State officials have identified warmer lake temperatures as a possible contributing factor to the die-off of hundreds of Arctic grayling this summer.
The Peninsula Clarion reports a state Department of Fish and Game report says the fish died of a relatively uncommon condition in Alaska known as the white spot disease.
The discovery of the dead fish washed up on the shores of Scout Lake in August was the first incident in Kenai. Biologists found that most of the fish were larger fish, and that smaller grayling and rainbow trout appeared to be unaffected.
The report says that smaller fish might swim in different areas and not have had contact with the parasite.
The temperatures of Alaska lakes were unusually this summer, especially in shallower bodies of water.
