21,000 Fish Die in ‘Catastrophic Failure’ at California Research Center

The University of California, Davis, described a "catastrophic failure" at an aquatic research center that resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 fish.

The university said in a statement that it would look into the failure of the process.

The faculty, staff and students who worked to care for, study and conserve these animals are mourned by U.C. Davis.

The Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture is located on five acres and is home to research programs that focus on sustaining California's aquatic species and supporting sustainable aquaculture production.

Laurie Brignolo, executive director of the Research and Teaching Animal Care Program at U.C. Davis, said on Sunday that the source of the chlorine was a chlorination system used to decontaminate water with fish pathogens.

University officials were not sure how chlorine got into the fish tanks. There is a possibility that the chlorine moved in the wrong direction because of a backup in the water line system.

U.C. Davis wants to understand what happened and make changes to prevent it from happening again.

While many of the other facilities for aquatic research do not have the same potential for chlorine exposure, there are some that do.

The center, which was built in the 1950's, had never before lost so much fish. The workers make sure the water goes through and the pump works. She said that the fish had been checked on the night before.

There was enough chlorine in the tanks overnight to make it a dangerously high amount for fish. It is not recommended to keep fish in water with small amounts of the chemical.

The center has a number of fish species, including green and white sturgeon and Chinook salmon, which are in danger of extinction.

Almost all of the fish were dead by the next day.

One of the first people to visit the center that day was the center manager. The manager saw that a lot of fish were dead.

The workers went tank by tank to record the losses. Most of the fish had died.

She said it was incredibly devastating.

The fish were being used to study the effects of disease and environmental changes on certain species.

The loss of fish at the center will set them back for a long time.

Those who work there have been affected by the loss. A grief management program has been set up by the university.

They provide a safe environment for fish that are being used for research. A sense of failure is what it is.