Algae bloom killed 95 percent of fish in NM lake

Hundreds of fish are dying at a New Mexico lake, and now, people who have caught some of those fish are wondering if they could get sick, or even die. Rotting fish are everywhere at Lake Van in Dexter. "The more I look, there's thousands and thousands of fish just floating to the top, and now the stench is getting really bad; there's flies everywhere," said Colleen Cole-Velasquez. Velasquez lives on the lake. She says the smell from the rotting fish is getting into her home. "People should be worried," said Game and Fish Biologist Shawn Denny. "When you see something dying in your environment, that should set off an alarm bell for you." Denny says the reason for the die-off is a microscopic plankton called golden algae. Denny says since last Monday, the algae have wiped out 95 percent of the fish in the lake. Now there's a whole lot of rotting fish, flies and questions.