150 dolphins dead in Amazon; scientists blame 102-degree water
- 8 months ago
#englishnews #dolphinsdead
News Article :-
For 10 days, the people of Tefé have awakened to a terrible sight: the carcasses of pink river dolphins floating in Lake Tefé, food for circling buzzards.
More than 150 of the beloved, endangered animals have died in this lake in Brazil’s Amazonas state, alarming scientists and wildlife advocates. The cause is unknown, but scientists say the likeliest culprit is extreme heat and drought, possibly linked to climate change and the El Niño phenomenon.
The water temperature in Lake Tefé has reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit — 59 degrees more than the average for a body of water in the Amazon — and water levels have fallen dramatically.
When the water is that warm, dolphins become disoriented, said Claudia Sacramento, head of the Environmental Emergencies Division at the governmental Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. The loss of oxygen triggers an increase in their cell metabolism, and they die of asphyxia.
“It is common for communities to run into a dead dolphin or two at some point,” Sacramento said. “Usually they’re just old or sick. But we had never seen something like this before.”
Nor, it is believed, has any other country in the Amazon.
Authorities are also studying whether a biotoxin or virus might be causing the die-off. Hundreds of fish in the Amazon also have died recently.
But researchers believe the simplest explanation is heat and drought. With El Niño and record-breaking heat in Brazil and other parts of South America expected to continue in the coming months, they fear, more dolphins could die.
“We’re getting ready for the worst,” said Adriana Colosio, a veterinarian from the Humpback Whale Institute who is in Tefé helping examine dolphin carcasses.
At least 10 veterinarians have volunteered to perform necropsies and collect samples to be processed by specialized laboratories in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
Authorities say they need lab results to better understand the cause of the deaths.
“That’s the question everyone wants to solve: What’s happening with these animals?” Colosio said.
But the effort faces challenges. One is finding carcasses in “good condition” for taking samples; in the water and heat, the dolphins’ remains decompose rapidly.
Another challenge is keeping the samples frozen while transporting them for analysis. Tefé, a remote city of 60,000, is around 1,850 miles from São Paulo and 2,000 from Rio. The lack of regularly scheduled direct flights and strict regulations on transferring biological matter make it unclear when they will reach the labs.
Two teams totaling 48 people are working in the lake — one to monitor and rehabilitate animals, the other to pull carcasses out. The Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development has rented a house on the lake to help rescue dolphins.
Yurasi Briceño, director of the Sotalia Project, an organization in Venezuela that researches and conserves aquatic ma
News Article :-
For 10 days, the people of Tefé have awakened to a terrible sight: the carcasses of pink river dolphins floating in Lake Tefé, food for circling buzzards.
More than 150 of the beloved, endangered animals have died in this lake in Brazil’s Amazonas state, alarming scientists and wildlife advocates. The cause is unknown, but scientists say the likeliest culprit is extreme heat and drought, possibly linked to climate change and the El Niño phenomenon.
The water temperature in Lake Tefé has reached 102 degrees Fahrenheit — 59 degrees more than the average for a body of water in the Amazon — and water levels have fallen dramatically.
When the water is that warm, dolphins become disoriented, said Claudia Sacramento, head of the Environmental Emergencies Division at the governmental Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. The loss of oxygen triggers an increase in their cell metabolism, and they die of asphyxia.
“It is common for communities to run into a dead dolphin or two at some point,” Sacramento said. “Usually they’re just old or sick. But we had never seen something like this before.”
Nor, it is believed, has any other country in the Amazon.
Authorities are also studying whether a biotoxin or virus might be causing the die-off. Hundreds of fish in the Amazon also have died recently.
But researchers believe the simplest explanation is heat and drought. With El Niño and record-breaking heat in Brazil and other parts of South America expected to continue in the coming months, they fear, more dolphins could die.
“We’re getting ready for the worst,” said Adriana Colosio, a veterinarian from the Humpback Whale Institute who is in Tefé helping examine dolphin carcasses.
At least 10 veterinarians have volunteered to perform necropsies and collect samples to be processed by specialized laboratories in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
Authorities say they need lab results to better understand the cause of the deaths.
“That’s the question everyone wants to solve: What’s happening with these animals?” Colosio said.
But the effort faces challenges. One is finding carcasses in “good condition” for taking samples; in the water and heat, the dolphins’ remains decompose rapidly.
Another challenge is keeping the samples frozen while transporting them for analysis. Tefé, a remote city of 60,000, is around 1,850 miles from São Paulo and 2,000 from Rio. The lack of regularly scheduled direct flights and strict regulations on transferring biological matter make it unclear when they will reach the labs.
Two teams totaling 48 people are working in the lake — one to monitor and rehabilitate animals, the other to pull carcasses out. The Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development has rented a house on the lake to help rescue dolphins.
Yurasi Briceño, director of the Sotalia Project, an organization in Venezuela that researches and conserves aquatic ma