In the view of the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), in the speculation surrounding the massive fish kills in the Oder, there are increasing indications that the animals died from the toxin produced by the algae. The strong growth of the algae, which already thrives in brackish water, is in turn due to the fact that large amounts of saline sewage have reached the river, said researcher Tobias Goldhamer of the German news agency DPA. “This is our most likely hypothesis at the moment.”
Last week, researchers at the Berlin Institute reported the robust growth of algae species Prymnesium parvum which can be a deadly poison for fish. Now they added that this toxin had already been detected in the waters of the Oder. In addition, satellite data showed a massive algal bloom in the Oder River.
Goldhammer, head of the research group in the IGB’s Department of Ecology and Biochemistry, said the first tests on fish eggs with oder water confirmed the deadly effect. “In the chain of evidence, it is very likely that this algae was the cause of the fish deaths.” However, this has not been definitively proven.
It is also important that algal blooms are not a natural event, but the result of anthropogenic influences, that is, the increased salt load in the river water. The source of the salt cannot currently be proven. Other factors likely played a role, Goldhamer said, including lower water and an increase in water temperature.
A spokesman for the Federal Environment Ministry said that several organic and inorganic substances have now been detected in water samples that could be responsible for the strong algae growth. “It really appears to be a chemical mixture. According to our current knowledge, none of these substances alone has caused the fish to die. It could be a ‘multi-caused event.'”
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