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Low oxygen levels in canals in Golden Gate Estates are to blame for reports of hundreds of dead fish this week, county pollution monitors said today.

Vegetation washed into the canal system by Tropical Storm Fay is sucking oxygen out of the water as it decays, Collier County Pollution Control specialist Rhonda Watkins said.

Watkins said the county got complaints Monday of dead fish in canals between Eighth and Tenth Streets Southwest, at the end of Fourth Street Southeast, at the end of Seventh Street Southwest and in the canal south of 16th Avenue Southwest.

Some reports cited an oil slick on the water's surface, but Watkins said decaying vegetation can create conditions that look similar to an oil slick but break apart more easily.

Not all of the fish in the canals had died, and the dead fish seemed to be similar sizes and mostly tilapia with a few bass, a pattern attributable to low oxygen levels, Watkins said. She said a chemical pollutant would cause a more widespread fish kill, Watkins said.

Meters recorded oxygen levels of less than 1 milligram per liter. Sportfish need at least 3 milligrams per liter of oxygen to survive; between 5 and 8 milligrams per liter is ideal, Watkins said.