The refuge said swimming in the spring could harm the fish.

“By swimming in the springs, it is possible to harm the fish directly by killing them (stepping on them, splashing them out of the spring, etc.),” the wildlife refuge said on its Facebook page. “More importantly, they can be harmed indirectly through trampling the algae and substrates needed for the fish to forage, breed, and hide. The algae is where the fish eggs are deposited, so crushing these eggs could also have an impact.”

The refuge said that further damage to the fish could be caused by “kicking up the substrate,” causing more silt to enter the system and “affect installed fish barriers if not caught in time.”