1822 J. FISH. RES. BOARD CAN., VOL. 3r(tr), 1974

Fish KiIl Due to "Cold Shock" in Lake 'Wabamun,

Alberta

G. R. Asn, N. R. Cnvuro, AND D. N. Garlup

Department of Zoology, [Jniversity of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta. T6G 2El

Ass, G. R., N. R. Cuvlaro, aNo D. N. Gl.r,lur. 1974. Fish kill due to "cold shock"in Lake Wabamun, Alberta. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 31: 1822-1824.

A thermal fish kill due to "cold shock" caused by a mechanical failure in the steamelectric generating unit was observed in Lake Wabamun, Alberta on February 8, 1973in the region of the discharge canal. The most rapid temperature decline occurred in theinitial 30 min after shutdown when the temperature dropped 16.9 C(21.8 to 4.9 C). Themajor fish species affected included spottail shiners (Nolropis hudsonius) and northernpike (Esox lucius').The freshwater clam Anodonta sp. did not appear to be affected.

Asn, G. R., N. R. Cnvuro, .a.No D. N. G.q.rrup. 1974. Fish kill due to "cold shock"in Lake Wabamun, Alberta. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 37: 1822-1824.

Une mortalit6 de poissons due i un "choc au froid", caus6 par une panne du g6n€ra-teur 6lectrique d vapeur, a 6t6 observ6e dans le lac Wabamun, Alberta, le 8 f6vrier 1973,dans la rdgion du canal de d6versement. L'abaissement de temp6rature le plus rapides'est produit au cours des 30 minutes qui ont suivi l'arrOt du gdn6rateur, alors que la tem-p6rature a baiss6 de 16.9 C (21.8 d 4.9 C). Les principales espdces de poisson affect6escomprenaient le queue d tache noire (Notropis hudsonius) et le grand brochet (Esox lucius).La coque d'eau douce Anodonta sp. n'a pas sembl6 affect6e.

Received April 29,1974Accepted August 14, 1974

Regu le 29 awrl 1974Accept6 le 14 aoil 1.974

Mosr literature on biological effects of thermal morphometry as well as the physical, chemical, anddischarges has dealt with sudden temperature in- biological properties of the lake are given in Nursallcreases, that is, "heat shock." However, in temper- and Gallup (1971), Gallup and Hickman (1973),ate regions sudden decreases in temperature, or and Gallup and Hickman (in press)."cold shock," may be of greater importance, parti- In the early morning of February 8 the onecularly during the winter. This aspect of thermal operating unit at the Sundance plant was forced t<rpollution was noted by Alabaster (1969) but has shut down due to mechanical failure. In 30 min thenot been documented with the exception of a few water temperature dropped 16.9 C in the dischargenotes appearing in bultetins (Anon. 1971, 1972). canal. For discussion the canal was divided intoIt is obvious that "cold shock" effects upon various three sections: upper, middle, and lower (Fig. 1).organisms must be studied in greater detail since The middle section had an experimental system ofCairns (1972) in his recommendations for the pro- 24 modules that sprayed a portion of the dischargetection of aquatic communities from thermal shock water into the atmosphere for cooling. A fabricstates that "fish and other aquatic organisms shall curtain served to channel the water to the sprayers.not be acclimated to temperatures so high that they At the time of shutdown the discharge of the canalwould die from low temperature stress if the (power) was approximately 284 m3/min (60,000 imperialplant were to cease functioning in midwinter." gal/min).

A "cold shock" fish kill was observed in Lake Stucly area and methods - By February 11 sufficientWabamun, Alberta in 1973. Lake Wabamun is ice to support the investigators had formed on thelocated approximately 64 km (40 miles) west of lower poriion of the discharge canal and the area wasEdmonton, Alta. and presently has trvo fossil fuel examined to determine the effects of the rapid temper-steam electrical generating plants which utilize the ature decline. During the shutdown there was insuffi-lake for cooling purpos;s. The Sundance plant cient ice formation on tbe middle and upper portions(300 megawatts IMWg] capacity from two units at of the discharge canal to allow examination' These

the time of the hsh kiil) and the wabamun prani P:i'i,"1:.1:',":iiTT* :i::l:",1?]1?lt:'^:1"",tf:.:(600 MWe capacity from two unirs) are located on ml,ff:"fft i,oui1T,tJ"lr"ii,i'l:;;'J""'"T #i:r'xlthe south and north shores, respectively. Detailed fr.i-,.r-f.iU.O ir"r"-*", made by visual counti from aboat.

Five transects of nine holes each were establishedacross the lower portion of the canal (Fig. 1). Seven

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FIc, 1. Physical layout of the discharge canal. The position of the transects of holescut in the ice is shown in the lower portion of the canal.

of the nine holes were evenly spaced at 6.5-m intervalsacross the 52-m-wide canal. The remaining two holeswere located I m from each shore. Each hole was I m2.The first transect was at the lower end of the sprayingsystem. Transects 2, 3, 4, arrd 5 were 30 m., 60 m, 90 m,and 150 m, respectively, downstream from Transect 1.

The number and the species of dead fish lying on thesubstrate immediately below each hole was recorded.The maximum depth in the canal was approximately2 m and the water was clear enabling this assessmentto be accurate. Samples of the dead fish were collectedand weighed to determine their biomass.

The number of fish counted under each hole wastaken to represent the average number of fish per squaremeter for the area one-half the distance to the neigh-boring holes and one-half the distanco to the neigh-boring transects. To estimate the total number of fishkilled in the study area, the numbers for all the areaswere summed. This procedure was applied only tospottail shiners (Notropis hudsonius Clinton) since thefishes observed were almost exclusively this species.

Results and discussion - Temperature decline afterplant shutdown was rapid. Data obtained from atemperature recorder located at the upper end ofthe discharge canal showed that the greatest tem-perature decline occurred in the initial 30 minafter shutdown when the temperature dropped 16.9C (21 .8 to 4. 9 C) (Fig. 2). From then on the declinewas more gradual until the canal eventually frozeovef.

In the transect area established on February 11there were an estimated 158,000 dead spottailshiners. The mean number of dead spottails persquare meter was 16.4 with a range of 0-200. Onlysix yellow perch (Perca flavescens) were counted inthe area and no total estimate was made. The averagewet weight of a spottail shiner as determined froma sample of 100 fish tvas 7.32 g. Thus, the biomassof dead spottail shiners in this area was estimatedto be 209 kg (364 lb).

Observations from the boat on February 14revealed large concentrations of dead spottailshiners around the sprayers. This probably wasbecause the sprayers remained in operation after

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the shutdown; thus the water currents movingtowards the intakes tended to concentrate dead fishin the area. An estimate of 100,000 dead spottailshiners was made for the middle portion of thecanal. Only a few dead spottail shiners were observedin the upper portion of the canal above the sprayers.

In about one-half of the canal, 122 dead northernpike (Esox lucius) werc counted from the boat.An estimate of 250 dead pike was made for theentire canal. The average weig.ht of 10 individualscollected was 730 g; therefore, the total biomass ofdead pike was estimated to be approximately 182kg. In addition one small (15 cm) burbot (Lota lota)and three small (20-25 cm) white suckers (Catosto-mus commersoni) werc collected. However, onlydead spottail shiners and northern pike were foundin large numbers, probably due to their greaterutilization of the discharge canal.

In sulnmary, approximately 258,000 spottailshiners (341 kg : 750 lb) and 250 northern pike(182.5 kg :4A2lb) were kil led in the dischargecanal. Unfortunately, it is not possible to assessthe impact of this fish kill upon the total lake systemsince population estimates of fish in the lake arenot available.

No dead lake whiteflsh (Coregonas clupeaformis),which are the mainstay of a commercial and sportsfishery on the lake, were observed in the canal. It was

T I M E ( H )

Ftc. 2. Temperature of the cooling water dischargebefore and after shutdown on February 8, 1973.

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1824 J . F ISH. RES. BOARD CAN. , VOL. 31(11) , 1e74

also noted that the freshwater clam (Anodotrra sp.),which is abundant in the canal, did not seem to beaffected by the rapid temperature declir.re. Carminedye placed on the gills of clams taken from thecanal showed that the animals had good ciliarymovement on the gills. Also, specimens that werebrought back to the laboratory and placed in aquariadid not exhibit adverse effects.

To guard against future fish kills of this type,certain precautions should be taken. First, powerplants should consist of a number of independentgenerating units. This would ensure that if one unitexperienced mechanical difficulties and was forcedto shut down. the other units would continue todischarge hot water at or near the same temperature.Also, if plants shut down for routine maintenance,they should phase down slowly, thereby graduallycooling the discharge water and allowing the fishto become acclimated to the cooler water.

Ar,ar,Lsrnn, J. A. 1969, Effects of heated dischargeson freshwater fish in Britain, p. 364. In P. A.

Krenkel and F. Parker [ed.] Biological Aspects ofThermal Pollution. Vanderbilt Univ. Press, Nash-ville, Tenn.

ANoN. 1971. Thermal pollution fish kill. Bull.Sport Fish. Inst. 223 (April). p. 3.

1972. Thermal fish kill. Bull. Sport Fish. Inst.232 (March). p.7.

C.rrnNs, J., Jr. 1972, Coping with heated wastewater discharges from steam-electric power plants.Bioscience 22:411420

Garlup, D. N., nNo M. Hrcrrvar. 1,973. Temper-ature and oxygen distribution in the mixing zone ofa thermal discharge to Lake Wabamun, Alberta.Univ. Alberta Water Resour. Cent. November16-17, 1972. Proc. Symp. Lakes of Western Canada,Publ. No. 2:285-302.

1974. Effects of the discharge of thermal efluentfrom a power station on Lake Wabamun, Alberta,Canada - limnological features. Hydrobiologia (Inpress)

Nunsar,r,, J. R., axo D. N. G.al-r.up. 1971. Theresponses of the biota of Lake Wabamun, Albertato thermal effiuent. Proc. Int. Symp. Ident. Meas.Environ. Pollut., Ottawa, Jwe l97l; 295=304.

Effect of Feerling Brown Trout (Salmo trutta) a Diet Pelletedin Dry and Moist Forms

Hucn A. PosroN

U. S. Fish and lltildlife ServiceTunison Laboratory of Fish Nutrition, Cortland, N.Y' 13045, USA

PosroN, H. A. 1974. Effect of feeding brown trout (Salmo trutta) a diet pelleted indry and moist forms. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 31 : 1824-1826.

Growth rate, body composition, and intake of either dry matter or energy did notdiffer significantly (P >0.05) between two groups of juvenile brown tlout (Salmo trutta)led either a low- or high-moisture semipurified diet at different rates to compensate for adiet energy density gradient. Feed/gain efficiency, on an as-fed basis, was significantlygreater (P <0.01) in fish fed the low-moisture diet, but did not differ (P >0.05) whencompared on the basis of dry matter or energy intake.

Posrox, H. A. 1974. Effect of feeding brown trout (Salmo trutta) a diet pelleted indry and moist forms. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 31 : 1824-7826.

Le rythme de croissance, la composition du corps et I'entr6e de matidre sdche oud'dnergie ne ditrdrent pas de fagon significative (P >0.05) entre deux groupes dejeunestruites brunes (Salmo trutta) soumis d un r6gime semi-purifid, soit d basse soit d haute teneuren eau, et d des taux diff6rents, afin de compenser un gradient de densitd d'6nergie dans lesdeux r6gimes. L'efficacit6 nourriture/gain, compar6e sur base du rdgime tel quel, est nette-ment plus grande (P <0.01) chez les poissons soumis au rdgime d laible teneur en eau'mais ne diffdre pas (P >0.05), lorsque comparde sur base d'entr6e de matiEre sbche oud'6nergie.

Received January 9, 1974Accepted August 2, 1974

Printed in Canada (J3272)Imprim6 au Canada (J3272)

Requ fe 9 janvier 1974Acceot€ le 2 aoOt 1974

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