A photo intern for Block Club Chicago recently had a unique encounter with a massive carp while on assignment at a floating garden in a Chicago pond.

The Catch

The intern, Giacomo Cain, was at Schiller Pond on the Far Northwest Side to take photos of a floating garden that was installed to help improve water quality.

While there, he met with Michael Feldmann, a fisheries science technician with the Forest Preserves of Cook County, who was working on maintaining the pond.

Feldmann explained that the carp in the pond are invasive and non-native to Illinois, and that they damage the ecosystem by releasing phosphates and nitrates when they feed on the bottom.

Cain joined Feldmann and other interns on a boat to do some electrofishing, which involves using an electric current to stun the fish and bring them to the surface.

After a few minutes of electrofishing, they caught a massive carp that weighed over 90 pounds and was 4-feet-3-inches long.

The Impact

The catch was significant not only because of the size of the fish, but also because it highlighted the problem of invasive species in Illinois waterways.

According to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the average weight of a common carp is between two to five pounds, making this catch extremely rare.

The Forest Preserves of Cook County have been working to remove invasive species from the pond and restore the ecosystem.

Original reporting: Block Club Chicago — read the source article.