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Thon Thamrongnawasawat, deputy dean of the Faculty of Fisheries
at Kasetsart University, attributed the fish deaths on Thursday
to the bloom - a natural occurrence that lowers oxygen levels in
the water and causes fish to suffocate.
"Various natural phenomena, such as coral bleaching or plankton
bloom, have naturally occurred for thousands to tens of
thousands of years. However, when global warming occurs, it
intensifies and increases the frequency of existing phenomena,"
he said.
According to local authorities, plankton bloom happen one or two
times a year and typically last two to three days.
Officials have collected seawater for further assessment and
analysis.
Worldwide, marine heatwaves have become a growing concern this
year, with thousands of dead fish washing up on beaches in Texas
and experts warning of algal blooms along the British coast as a
result of rising sea temperatures.
Global sea surface temperatures for April and May were the
highest on record for those months, according to the British Met
Office.
"Whether it's Australia and places like the Great Barrier Reef
or even places around England which are experiencing quite bad
marine heatwaves at the moment, it's really going to be
detrimental to those local ecosystems," said Sarah
Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a climate scientist with the University of
New South Wales in Australia.
(Additional reporting by David Stanway in Singapore. Editing by
Gerry Doyle)
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