aulty Fish Kill

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

Everyone knew that the Baron was interested in health and safety for all of Lilliland. The Baron was concerned deeply for the welfare of the citizens of Lilliland and all of its natural beauty. He especially was concerned for the animals that roamed freely in the mountains and lakes. There were no guns and no hunting allowed in Lilliland.

One day the tranquility was abruptly changed when the captain of the sightseeing boat on Castle Lake reported that there were 50 dead fish floating in a pool of oil in the middle of the lake.

The Baron was furious when he heard about the fish. He immediately called his chief advisor Professor Hamblin into his office and asked him to find out the cause of the fish kill.

The Professor had a sample of the dead fish and the surrounding water sent to a laboratory for analysis. If the sample of oil could be identified then the boat that caused the incident could be found. All the boat yards and docks were contacted to see if anyone reported that their boat had an oil leak. But no one came forward with any such problem.

The laboratory made a report to the Professor stating the type of oil that caused all those fish to die. It was a high-grade fuel oil that was only used for very large, expensive yachts.

With that information, the boat yards were contacted and the boat that used that particular type of oil was found.

The Baron sent the police to the yacht to arrest the owner and impound the yacht. The owner and captain admitted to being the cause of the fish kill. The owner said that the crew had not been properly trained and a new crewmember turned on the wrong valve causing the fuel to drain into the center of the lake. He was very sorry.

The boat owner soon realized what a serious crime his crew had committed. He was heavily fined, made to pay for all the cleanup expenses, and his boat was impounded for 90 days.

Some may think that the punishment was severe but they are not aware that in Lilliland there can be no crimes against nature, including the lowly fish that swim in Castle Lake.