A fisherman stands on his boat as he navigates close to hundreds of useless fish awash on the banks of Piranha Lake because of a extreme drought within the state of Amazonas, in Manacapuru, Brazil, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.

Edmar Barros/AP

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Edmar Barros/AP

A fisherman stands on his boat as he navigates close to hundreds of useless fish awash on the banks of Piranha Lake because of a extreme drought within the state of Amazonas, in Manacapuru, Brazil, Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.

Edmar Barros/AP

SAO PAULO — More than 100 dolphins have died within the Brazilian Amazon rainforest prior to now week because the area grapples with a extreme drought, and lots of extra may die quickly if water temperatures stay excessive, specialists say.

The Mamiraua Institute, a analysis group of Brazil’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, stated two extra useless dolphins had been discovered Monday within the area round Tefe Lake, which is essential for mammals and fish within the space. Video supplied by the institute confirmed vultures choosing on the dolphin carcasses beached on the lakeside. Thousands of fish have additionally died, native media reported.

Experts consider excessive water temperatures are the most probably explanation for the deaths within the lakes within the area. Temperatures since final week have exceeded 39 levels Celsius (102 levels Fahrenheit) within the Tefe Lake area.

The Brazilian authorities’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation, which manages conservation areas, stated final week it had despatched groups of veterinarians and aquatic mammal specialists to research the deaths.

There had been some 1,400 river dolphins in Tefe Lake, stated Miriam Marmontel, a researcher from the Mamiraua Institute.

“In one week we have already lost around 120 animals between the two of them, which could represent 5% to 10% of the population,” stated Marmontel.

Workers have recovered carcasses of dolphins since final week in a area the place dry rivers have impacted impoverished riverside communities and caught their boats within the sand. Amazonas Gov. Wilson Lima on Friday declared a state of emergency because of the drought.

Nicson Marreira, mayor of Tefe, a metropolis of 60,000 residents. stated his authorities was unable to ship meals on to some remoted communities as a result of the rivers are dry.

Ayan Fleischmann, the Geospatial coordinator on the Mamirauá Institute, stated the drought has had a significant impression on the riverside communities within the Amazon area.

“Many communities are becoming isolated, without access to good quality water, without access to the river, which is their main means of transportation,” he stated.

Fleischmann stated water temperatures rose from 32 C (89 F) on Friday to virtually 38 C (100 F) on Sunday.

He stated they’re nonetheless figuring out the reason for the dolphin deaths however that the excessive temperature stays the primary candidate.