The Palisades Fire, which tore through coastal areas, put the already endangered tidewater goby at risk.
LONG BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — An endangered species of fish rescued from the Palisades Fire is getting a second chance at life thanks to the efforts of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The aquarium successfully rescued tidewater goby fish after their habitat in the Topanga Canyon Lagoon was severely impacted by the wildfire.
“These are a small brackish water fish that live in these unique California lagoon water symptoms. And they needed a place to put them because they knew their habitat was going to be decimated by ash and debris and thankfully because their habitat in the Topanga Canyon Lagoon did get pretty bad,” said Nate Jaros, vice president of animal care at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
The Palisades Fire, which tore through coastal areas, put the already endangered tidewater goby at risk. The rescue effort required a team of biologists and conservationists. Now, nearly 600 tidewater gobies are being cared for in temporary tanks managed by the aquarium’s care team.
“Their population is something that is closely monitored so it’s an important fish, they live in very unique ecosystems,” Jaros said. “There’s not many lagoon systems up and down the coast of California. And these fish exclusively live in California. So they are well monitored and we know when it’s time to step in and react to a situation like this.”
The fish will remain at the Aquarium of the Pacific until significant rain events can flush out debris left over from the Palisades Fire.
“There’s more rain coming so I think the best thing that could happen is for the lagoon system to be naturally flushed out. If there happen to be a mudslide that would be much more delayed, but I’ve think they’ve taken efforts to stabilize the hillside and we hope they have clean fresh water to go back to,” Jaros said.
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