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Hundreds of dead fish were spotted floating in the Hudson River off Manhattan on Sunday, July 5, which an environmental group attributed to high temperatures and a lack of rain in the “fragile ecosystem,” local media reported.

The environmental organization Riverkeeper said heat and excessive algae growth had deprived the river’s fish of oxygen during a recent dry spell in New York.

“The widespread deaths of Atlantic menhaden, and possibly other species, are most likely the result of prolonged heat and lack of rain … which reduce levels of dissolved oxygen that the fish need to survive,” the group said. “Compounding this imbalance is the devastating loss of aquatic life in the Hudson and Harbor that consume algae.”

Beginning June 12, there were 15 days in a row with no measurable rainfall in New York City, according to the New York Weather Archive. Local media reported that the average temperature in the city in June 2020 was 82 F compared to 78 F in June 2019.

This video, shared by Yon Lam, shows the river from Riverside Park in Manhattan on Sunday. Credit: Yon Lam via Storyful