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A team of biologists, veterinarians and fishermen in Brazil briefly captured rare freshwater dolphins in the Amazon to study their health, hoping to avoid a repeat of the deaths of hundreds of such mammals last year due to severe drought, reports Reuters . The dolphins were brought ashore for blood tests and other examinations and then released into Lake Tefe in the Amazon basin after the scientists completed their work, which included inserting a microchip to monitor their behavior via satellite. Last year, as a result of the longest drought in the history of the Amazon rainforest, caused in part by climate change, the carcasses of more than 200 river dolphins were found in Lake Tefe, which is formed by a tributary of the Amazon River. Low river levels during the drought warmed the water to temperatures that were intolerable for the dolphins, researchers say. Also, thousands of fish have died in the Amazon's watercourses due to the lack of oxygen in the water. Environmentalists attributed the unusual conditions to climate change, which is making droughts and heat waves more likely and more severe. The role of global warming in last year's drought in the Amazon is unclear, as other factors, such as the El Nino weather phenomenon, could also play a role.
Amazonian dolphins, threatened
O.D.
English Section / 27 august
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