Residents of the Bay Area were under a temporary tsunami warning on the morning of Dec. 5, after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast. In two minutes, the shock traveled through the earth hundreds of miles east to the Nevada border, affecting the endangered Devils Hole pupfish.
The fish is only found in a detached portion of Death Valley National Park, surrounded by Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Western Nevada. The hole is hundreds of feet deep, but the fish is only found in the upper 80 feet or so. The most recent survey in September showed a population of 212 pupfish. They have no other natural habitat.
Park officials said the water in Devils Hole is typically still, because the pool is sheltered from wind in the bottom of a collapsed cave. The quake caused waves — that experts call a "seiche" — about two feet high. The seiche disrupted the shallow shelf where the pupfish spawn, and swept most organic material deep into the cavern.
Officials believe this material may have included pupfish eggs and food, which may now be too deep for the living fish to access. But, the officials add, there could have been a positive effect as well.
“In the short term, this is bad for the pupfish,” National Park Service biologist Kevin Wilson said in a press statement. “But, in the long term, this type of reset is good for the pupfish. It cleaned off any decaying organic matter that could otherwise cause pockets of low oxygen.”
The fish have survived seiches before, most recently in 2022. Officials are evaluating how best to help the endangered fish.
