These baby alewives were killed when they tried to migrate downstream over the dam spillway (above) and fell 25 feet onto the flat concrete slab at the base of the dam with less than 1/2 inch of water to cushion their heads and bodies from the concrete. The rocks were placed at the base of the water plume by Friends of the Kennebec Salmon on 5 October 2002 in an attempt to create a small plunge pool to cushion the alewives from striking bare concrete.
The impact of the fall on the concrete slab killed many fish instantly, while others died a few minutes later from massive head injuries. The impact was so severe that the fish were bouncing four to seven feet in the air upon hitting the concrete slab at the base of the dam spillway. They didn't have a chance nor were they given one. And so they died by the thousands, some swiftly, some slowly and painfully.
The force of the impact on the concrete slab was so severe that it caused this baby alewife's eyes to pop completely out of its head. The blood beneath the scales on dead fish show that the impact caused massive bleeding in their skulls and bodies. Many fish were observed to have broken backs.
These alewives are about 3-4 inches long and were migrating to the Atlantic Ocean before they were killed by the American Tissue Dam.
All of the above fish were found within 10 feet of the base of the American Tissue Dam spillway, where they died at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2002.
The stream below the dam spillway was littered with thousands of dead alewives in the same or worse condition as those above.