Dead Carp Fish on Beach – Great Salt Lake – Utah
A view of a dead carp fish from the Great Salt Lake in northern Utah. The Great Salt Lake, a small remnant of the much larger Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, is as the name suggests very salty, and mostly uninhabitable as far as fish are concerned, but all of the water that flows into the lake, comes from fresh water rivers, and springs that flow from the surrounding Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountain Ranges. This particular fish likely entered the Great Salt Lake from the Jordan River, which connects to Utah lake and receives fresh water from both ranges.
The survivability of carp near the edges of the Great Salt Lake has likely also impacted by a number of environmental issues, especially in the last decade. Including a decreasing flow of water to the lake as its diverted for agriculture and housing development, as well as hotter, drier summers due to climate change and drought. Increasing salinity, salt water intrusion, and pollution concentration as the lake has shrunk are also potential factors.