The California earthquake was felt more than 500 miles away in Devils Hole

The effects of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that struck California last week stretched more than 500 miles from the epicenter near the town of Petrolia to Devils Hole in Death Valley National Park, home of the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish the National Park Service (NPS).

Since there is no other natural habitat and the population is under 200, the disturbance could spell trouble for the young fish.

“Devils Hole in Death Valley National Park was rocked by an earthquake in Northern California on December 5,” the agency said in a news release Thursday. “Scientists are still assessing potential impacts to the endangered Devils Hole Pupfish.”

Just two minutes after the earthquake struck off the coast of Northern California at 10:44 a.m. local time on December 5, “water began to slosh in Devils Hole,” NPS said, explaining that the water in the basin is normally still because it is protected from wind at the bottom of a collapsed cave.

The rare waves destroyed the shallow shelf that serves as the Devils Hole Pupfish’s main spawning or breeding area and “washed most of the organic matter from the shelf into the cave, more than 500 feet deep,” NPS said. Scientists estimated the waves, known locally as seiches, to be nearly two feet high.

“In the short term, this is bad for the fry,” said NPS biologist Dr. Kevin Wilson in Thursday’s statement. “A lot of pupfish food just sank deeper into the cave, most likely too deep for the fish to get there. There were probably eggs from juvenile fish on the shelf that were destroyed.”

However, things are not entirely bleak, said Dr. Wilson and explained that this type of reset can be beneficial for the fry in the long run as it potentially “removes any decaying organic matter that might otherwise cause pockets of low oxygen.”

The critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish has survived seiches before, most recently in 2018, 2019 and 2022, NPS said. The fish compensate for this by increasing spawning activity.

Biologists are committed to protecting fish

However, the NPS is still concerned about the survival of this juvenile fish species, which has no other natural habitat. Approximately 212 juveniles were documented in Devils Hole in September.

Biologists from the NPS, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nevada Department of Wildlife are “considering how to mitigate impacts to fish, which are also affected by groundwater pumping and climate change,” NPS said. Plans likely include increasing nutritional supplements for the fish, which typically feed on algae, invertebrates and other microorganisms found on a shallow ledge in the tank.

Located within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Devils Hole is a biodiverse, spring-fed oasis in southern Nevada. The water-filled, geothermal cave system is the only natural habitat for the critically endangered Devils Hole pupfish, according to the NPS.

Saman Shafiq is a featured news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

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