According to their own statements, the Polish fire department has so far recovered nearly 160 tonnes of dead fish from the Oder and a smaller river. A total of 158 tons, the fire department headquarters spokeswoman said on Saturday. Most are explained by dead fish from the Oder. According to previous information from the Ministry of the Environment, at least 36 tonnes were recovered in Brandenburg.
The small river in Poland is the Ner, which rises south of Lodz and flows into the Warta. He has no connection with Oder. Dead fish have also been floating on Ner for a few days now. The cause has not yet been clarified.
Researchers suspect poisonous algae species
In recent days, masses of dead fish have been discovered and collected in the Oder on the Polish and German sides. According to the Warsaw Interior Ministry, more than 3,000 firefighters, more than 2,000 police and 1,300 soldiers were sent to Poland to rescue the dead fish. Scientists say that a toxic species of algae could be a key factor in the death of fish. But this has not yet been proven. Other substances are being investigated. The Brandenburg Ministry of the Environment continues to assume that the environmental disaster had multiple causes.
Meanwhile, the statement by the regional head of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, Zbiegniew Bogucki, gives some hope. Thus, live fish can be seen again. “Where we recovered tons of dead fish a few days ago, live fish have now turned up,” Bogucki wrote on Twitter on Saturday. However, due to the lack of oxygen in the water, many fish are on the verge of suffocation and swim close to the surface. The politician posted a video showing this. Bogucki wrote in another tweet that he had already contacted the local fire department to try to aerate the water with bombs. (apa)