Devils Hole in Death Valley National Park was shaken by an earthquake that happened in Northern California on December 5. Scientists are still evaluating potential impacts to the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish.
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake occurred off the coast of Northern California at 10:44 am. About two minutes later, water started sloshing in Devils Hole, about 500 miles away from the quake’s epicenter. Scientists estimate the waves, known technically as a seiche, were nearly two feet high.
Water in Devils Hole is normally still, since the pool is sheltered from wind in the bottom of a collapsed cave. These rare waves disrupted the shallow shelf that is Devils Hole Pupfish’s main spawning area. The waves swept most organic matter from the shelf into the cavern, which is over 500 feet deep.
“In the short term, this is bad for the pupfish,” said National Park Service biologist Dr. Kevin Wilson. “A lot of pupfish food just sank deeper into the cave, most likely too deep for the fish to get to it. There were likely pupfish eggs on the shelf that were destroyed. 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.”
Pupfish survived seiches many times in the evolution of the species, most recently in 2018, 2019, and 2022. They reacted to similar disturbances in the past by increasing spawning activity.
However, Dr. Wilson isn’t taking any chances with the survival of this pupfish species that has no other natural habitat. The most recent survey counted 212 fish in September. National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Nevada Department of Wildlife biologists are evaluating how to mitigate the disruption on the fish, which are also impacted by groundwater pumping and climate change. Their plan will likely include increasing the amount of supplemental food supplied to the fish.
News release by the National Park Service.
