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The scene at Ballyenahan between Glenahulla and Kildorrery after a milk truck collided with a car and overturned on Sunday last.

As the drivers of a truck and car walked away from a bad crash on Sunday last in Ballyenahan, the fish in the Funcheon river were just as lucky, as the cold weather kept them safe from the spilt milk, which would have resulted in a large fish kill.

The crash happened at midday on Sunday at Ballyenahan between Glenahulla and Kildorrery when a milk tank collided with a car and overturned. The road was closed for five hours while units from Mitchelstown and Fermoy fire brigades and the water tanker from Mallow attended the scene and cleaned up the road.

While the drivers luckily came away from the accident relatively unscathed, according to a local angler, the fish in the Funcheon river were just as fortunate.

The chairman of the Kildorrery Trout Anglers, David Lee told The Avondhu that the unseasonally cold April weather saved the fish on the day, as they were feeding at the bottom of the river, but if it had been warmer, they would have been at the surface of the water and would have died.

"If we had normal weather, it would have wiped out the Funcheon. This would have been the third big fish kill in the river in recent times - the Funcheon is heading for a wipeout," he said.

Mr Lee said that thousands of gallons of milk spilt from the overturned truck and local anglers were on the scene that day to help out.

Milk contains a lot of protein, sugar and fat and these are food sources for aquatic organisms like bacteria, fungi and algae. With a limited suply of these food sources, the growth of bacteria, fungi and algae are limited, but with a milk spill, the food source is almost unlimited and, as the organisms break down the milk, they are using the oxygen from the water. As the oxygen levels decrease, there is no oxygen for the fish to survive on and they suffocate.

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