The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

By Leslie Brown

A large patch of an unidentified biological substance was reported Saturday, September 22, in Suttle Lake.

Chief Don Mouser of the Sisters-Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District said the swath of milky-white

material suspended in the water measured some 30 by 500 feet. It was located near the swimming beach at the east end of the lake.

Mouser said the Redmond Hazardous Materials team was called in to test the water and determined that the substance was not of chemical origin.

Alan "Chip" Dale, assistant supervisor for fisheries of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Bend central regional office, said it looked as if someone had dumped milk into the water.

Eight dead kokanee (land-locked salmon) were found floating in the mess, but Dale said other kokanee in the area were not affected.

"There have been similar kokanee die-offs before," said Dale. "When there has been a big algae bloom in the lake (as there was this year), fish die because of a low oxygen level before and after the water temperature starts to cool."

He took samples of the dead fish and the milky substance for analysis by the Department of Environmental Quality.