Seventeen dead fish and an eel were seen floating on the surface of the water at Bellambi Lagoon on Monday morning.
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Keiraville cyclist Felix Bronneberg was going on his usual bike ride when he noticed the large dead fish in the water with others gasping for air.
“Now we are seeing dead fish in the Illawarra after the phenomenal scenes in the Darling River,” Mr Bronneberg said. “It was unexpected.”
Hundreds of thousands of fish had died in a 40-kilometre stretch of the Darling River near Menindee in far-western NSW recently.
A NSW Department of Primary Industries spokeswoman said officers investigated the deaths.
“Recent rainfall in the Illawarra resulted in the lagoon filling which then opened to the sea,” she said. “This is a natural occurrence for coastal lakes such as Bellambi Lagoon.
“This caused the water levels to drop substantially and the lagoon now has around 30cm or less of water depth throughout.
“Recent extremely hot weather followed this opening and the drop in water level. Initial investigations suggest the fish have died due to a combination of high water temperature and related low dissolved oxygen levels.”
The spokeswoman said ongoing extreme heat and drought conditions would likely cause more fish deaths throughout NSW without significant rainfall to generate replenishment flows.
An NSW Environment Protection Authority spokeswoman said officers visited the site and tested the dissolved oxygen levels in the lake, and returned normal results.
She said healthy fish were observed swimming in the lake as were about 20 dead ones.
“No pollution was observed flowing into the lake from any stormwater drains, or from sewage infrastructure,” the spokeswoman said.
“Reports of a foul odour are most likely due to low water levels which mean usually submerged organic matter is now above the surface and decomposing, emitting the “rotten egg gas” smell.
“Some white foam was also observed in the lake and the water was murky which is not unusual for this lake.”
Community members are encouraged to report any similar incidents or observations through the Fishers Watch hotline on 1800 043 536.
