REDONDO BEACH (KTLA) -- Heal the Bay, one of Southern California's leading ocean advocates, is looking for volunteers to help clean up millions of dead fish that washed up in King Harbor near Redondo Beach.

Experts believe the fist suffocated after being chased into the marina by rough waters Tuesday night.

Dozens of volunteers turned out Wednesday in King Harbor, removing as many as 30 tons of dead fish. Still, city officials say a lot of work remains to be done.

From 'Heal the Bay'

If you have some time to help, check in at the old Red Onion site, just north of the Cheese Cake Factory, 655 N. Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach. There will be other volunteers there to direct you on how you can help from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Even a couple hours will make a tremendous difference.

Water, food and sunscreen will be provided to volunteers. No experience or supplies are required -- only enthusiasm.


The dead fish, mostly sardines along with anchovies and mackerel, floated up to the surface from the ocean floor on Wednesday.

Officials said there is layer of fish about 12 to 18 inches thick covering the bottom of the marina, and those fish will wash up to the surface in the days ahead.

Marine experts warn that time is of the essence, because if the fish decompose, oxygen levels will go down even more in the marina, killing other sea life.

The decay could also boost nutrients in the harbor, leading to an algae bloom that would further deplete oxygen levels.

Heal the Bay said they are analyzing ocean conditions along with the Redondo Beach SEA Laboratory and the University of Southern California.

"It's critical that all the dead fish are removed within the next couple of days to prevent an even worse problem," the organization said in a statement.

Firefighters were using a hose at the bottom of the harbor to try to stir the fish up for a diver to capture.

A sewer vacuum truck was also being used to suck the dead fish from the water with a long plastic hose.

"Now that you have millions and just tons of dead fish, it's going to become a hazmat situation," Sgt. Phil Keenan of the Redondo Beach Police Department told KTLA.

It's expected that the clean-up will cost at least $100,000.

The dead fish are being taken to a facility near Victorville to be converted into organic compost.

Authorities maintain they do not suspect any sort of poisoning.

"All evidence points to oxygen deprivation as cause of death," says California Department of Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan.

"There is no oil sheen, nor is there a chemical sheen," Hughan said.

Sgt. Keenan said authorities are confident of test results showing that oxygen deprivation caused the massive fish kill because the other part of the sardine school is alive and well in the mouth of the harbor.

"Part of the sardine school is out in the channel of the harbor and they're doing fine," Keenan says.

"For some reason, this large school of sardines got chased into the harbor -- and they died off."

Authorities said that the sardines likely sought calm waters inside the 1,400-vessel marina Monday evening when winds were gusting up to 45 mph and the waters were rough.

"They like to follow each other and it only takes one to come in before the others follow," Brent Scheiwe, program director of the SEA Lab, a hands-on coastal science education center in Redondo Beach, told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.

"The fish found these back areas of the harbor, and then the oxygen depletion would have occurred... If it's rough out there, they will stay here in the waters where it's more sheltered," Scheiwe said.

About the extraordinary number of dead fish, Hughan stated that "while it is unusual, it is not unprecedented. This is natural selection."

Hughan said a necropsy, including a chemical analysis, will be performed on some of the dead fish.