Video shows thousands of dead fish wash up on river bank in Matagorda, Texas

Mary Bowerman | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Thousands of dead fish wash up in Texas Thousands of dead or dying fish washed ashore in a Matagorda river channel, Texas, leading to the Gulf of Mexico. Kyle Naegeli, who filmed it, said there were "miles of menhaden washing up and dying along with other bigger game fish".

Dramatic video posted on YouTube shows thousands of dead or dying fish near the banks of a river in Texas.

Kyle Naegeli, who is known as the "The Fisher Whisperer" on YouTube, posted a six minute video that showed countless fish either dead in the water or dying.

“This is one of the craziest things I’ve seen in my life,” he said. “Just massive amounts of fish.”

Naegeli said in the video that he was in Matagorda, Texas, along a river that leads into the Gulf of Mexico when "a huge amount of menhaden started to surface and then die."

"Pretty soon there were miles of menhaden washing up and dying along with other bigger game fish," Naegeli said in the video caption.

In the comment section, many questioned whether an algae bloom was to blame for the massive fish kill.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is currently investigating the massive kill, according to Steve D. Lightfoot, a spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Lightfoot said there have been similar fish kill events in same area that were caused by low dissolved oxygen in the water.

He said the Old Colorado River channel empties in the Gulf of Mexico, and often gulf menhaden enter the river channel from the gulf in large numbers, which can deplete dissolved oxygen levels in the water.

"Algal blooms can also contribute to the oxygen depletion," he said.

Nutrients and agricultural runoff such as nitrogen can spur the growth of algae, and when the algae die, their decay consumes oxygen faster than it can be brought down from the surface, tNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says. As a result, fish, shrimp and crabs can suffocate.