About 10% of the dolphin population died in a lake in the Brazilian Amazon during the last week of September, due to a historic heat wave and drought that affected the region, researchers announced Tuesday.
During the last week of September, 153 Dolphins were found dead in Lake Teifi, whose water temperature reached 39.1 degrees Celsius, a figure seven degrees higher than usual, according to the mamerawa Institute for Sustainable Development and the Brazilian branch of the World Wide Fund for nature.
This lake is located in the state of Amazonas, in an area where the river converges with the Amazon, in the middle of the largest tropical forest in the world.
The researchers recorded the deaths of 130 pink dolphins and 23 Toxocara Dolphins. Hundreds of fish also died in the lake.
“What is happening in Lake Teifi is frightening,” said Mariana pachwalini Frias of the World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) in a statement, adding that “the impact of the death of these animals is enormous, and casts a shadow over the entire local ecosystem”.
“These dolphins are considered to be guardians and witnesses of the health of the surrounding environment. What happens to them is reflected on other organisms living in the area, including humans,”he said.
The severe drought in the Amazon has caused the level of rivers to drop to dangerous levels, which poses significant problems for river navigation, which is necessary in the life of remote communities.
The level of the Rio Negro, one of the main tributaries of the Amazon River, fell to 13.49 meters at the port of Manaus, setting a record since the recording of river levels began in 1902, according to local authorities.
In recent days, Manaus, the main city in the Brazilian Amazon, has seen heavy smoke clouds caused by forest fires.
Experts noted that the situation was aggravated by the phenomenon of “El Nino”, which limits the formation of clouds and subsequent precipitation.
But Brazilian environment minister Marina Silva attributed what is happening to”out-of-control climate change”.
