Brazil: Around 70 dolphins found dead due to extreme temperatures

On September 28, the thermometer on Brazil’s Lake Tefé reached an alarming peak of 39.1 degrees Celsius. That day, 70 dolphins and tucuxis were found dead in its waters, but from the middle of that month to date, the death count rose to 154.De these, 131 belong to the threatened species of pink dolphin, which was included in the list of endangered species in 2018 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). and 23 are tucuxis, which share the same classification since 2020.To address this crisis, the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation and the Mamirauá Institute for Sustainable Development launched an “Emergency Operation to Rescue Dolphins in Tefé” to solve the causes of these deaths and seek new solutions. Given the magnitude of this emergency, more than 50 specialists from around the world joined the initiative. Among them, figures such as Sergio Rodríguez Heredia, biologist and head of the Rescue Center of the Mundo Marino Foundation, and Lorenzo von Fersen, biologist and president of the international NGO Yaqu Pacha, stand out. The extreme water temperature is a big problem, ranging from 29 to 38 degrees, which is dangerous for cetaceans. Tests were conducted on 17 dolphins, but no evidence of infectious diseases as a primary cause was found. In addition, several common infectious agents were ruled out.

Original source in Spanish