It’s In The Water

You can’t help but wonder if it is in the water that we drink.

Experts: 'Intersex' Bass Fish Likely In Connecticut Too
Hartford Courant
By Gregory B. Hladky Contact Reporter
April 2, 2016

If you're fishing for freshwater bass these days in Connecticut — or anywhere else in the Northeast — chances are pretty good you may catch fish that are neither completely male nor completely female.

A federal survey of black bass at 19 national wildlife refuges in New England and the northeastern U.S. found that alarming percentages of these popular sport fish are "intersex," a nonnatural condition that occurs when males of a species develop female characteristics and vice versa.
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This peculiar sexual switch in fish is believed to be the result of endocrine-disrupting chemicals that get into the water from discarded pharmaceutical medications, animal and human waste, fertilizers and popular herbicides used to treat lawns, golf courses and agricultural crops.

For smallmouth bass, the rate of males showing female characteristics was a stunning 85 percent, according to the study by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The intersex rate for male largemouth bass tested was 27 percent on average.

Hmm… it has to make one think about the number of trans children coming out if there is a link between the two. I remember in one of the support groups we had a cluster of members coming from one town along the Naugatuck river where there was a big chemical company and we used to joke the “it must be the water.”

It turns out that fish are not the only species with an increasing number of intersex young.

Intersex frogs in the U.S. have also alarmed some environmentalists, particularly because of indications that a popular herbicide called atrazine may be linked to the sexual changes.

Here in Connecticut I don’t think that there is a problem with our drinking water since most of our water comes from reservoirs and not from rivers.

There is one comment that I have to laugh at, our governor invited companies from North Carolina to come to Connecticut because of our diverse workforce. Well the commenter made use of the governor’s comments.

In a related story, Governor Malloy today announced that all of these fish are welcome to CT, where they can swim in any body of water that they choose without fear for their personal safety....