NorCal earthquake shakes critically endangered species in Death Valley

Two minutes after the earthquake, water began surging about 500 miles from its epicenter in Devils Hole, home of the critically endangered juvenile fish deep in the Mojave Desert, a National Park Service news release said. Scientists estimate that the disturbance caused rare waves up to 60cm high that roiled the normally calm waters in the cave’s basin and destroyed the flat rocky outcropping that serves as the species’ primary spawning area.

“In the short term, this is bad for the juvenile fish,” said National Park Service biologist Dr. Kevin Wilson, in the press release. “A lot of pupfish food just sank deeper into the cave, most likely too deep for the fish to get there. There were probably eggs from juvenile fish on the shelf that were destroyed.”

The phenomenon that struck their habitat is known as seismic seiche, which occurs when water sways from side to side in a closed body of water. They are most commonly caused by strong winds or dramatic changes in air pressure, but can also be caused by seismic waves, which was the case in this case.

Fortunately, there could be some positive benefits in the long run, Wilson said. Decaying organic material was washed into the depths of the 500-foot cave where the fish live, potentially causing a sort of “reset” that could otherwise have contributed to low oxygen levels in the water.

Not to mention, the sturdy, inch-long pupfish, named for the way they frolic while swimming, have survived similar events, including a four-foot-high 7.6-magnitude earthquake in Mexico in 2022 Triggered waves in limestone cave In 2019, another magnitude 7.1 earthquake caused water to rise and fall at least 10 to 15 feet, the park service said. The year before, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake in the Gulf of Alaska caused waves up to 30 cm high.

“It’s crazy that distant earthquakes affect Devils Hole,” Wilson said at the time. “We’ve seen this a few times, but it still surprises me.”

In the past, the fish responded with increased spawning activity, which the park administration does not consider unusual. However, a team of researchers from the NPS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nevada Department of Wildlife are studying ways to mitigate disturbances to the fish in the only place in the world where they occur.

The species has recently made a comeback, with 212 juveniles recorded at the last count in September. A little over a decade ago there were only 35 of them. The juveniles will continue to be carefully monitored as they face other threats to their population, such as: B. Groundwater pumping and climate change. Wilson said experts likely plan to increase the amount of supplemental feed given to the fish, which feed primarily on algae.