Troubled Waters

Troubled Waters

Source: earthobservatory

9/25/2021

It was once a source of great abundance—particularly fossil fuels and fish—for the people of Venezuela. Now Lake Maracaibo is mostly abundant with pollution from leaking oil and excess nutrients.

Spanning 13,000 square kilometers (5,000 square miles) in northwestern Venezuela, Lake Maracaibo is one of South America’s largest lakes and one of the oldest in the world. Though it was filled with freshwater thousands of year ago, Maracaibo is now an estuarine lake connected to the Gulf of Venezuela and the Caribbean Sea by a narrow strait. That strait was significantly expanded in the 1930–50s by dredging for ship traffic. Now the north end of the lake is brackish, while the south end is mostly fresh due to abundant flows from nearby rivers.

In satellite images acquired in September 2021, Lake Maracaibo was swirling with shades of green, tan, and gray that traced the flow of currents and eddies. The sources of those colors were algae, river sediment outflows, and crude oil leaks. The image at the top of this page was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on September 25. The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8 observed the scene below on September 10.

Continue...

News Id		Source	Stamp	country
851	Как раньше ловили налимов в Подмосковье	ohotniki	2024-01-19	RU
852	Diamond Valley familys fishing show sees success	okotoksonline	2024-01-25	CA
853	B.C’s Cowichan River named No. 2 fishing destination in Canada in 2024	westcoasttraveller	2024-01-23	CA
854	BC fish face new threat from microscopic parasite as government funding dries up	infotel	2024-01-08	CA
855	How to protect fish and reptiles during Maines power outages	wabi	2024-01-08	TV
856	Two nabbed fish bombing and spearfishing in waters off Pulau Sepanggar	thestar	2024-01-11	MY
857	AI and satellite data map true scale of untracked fishing and ocean industry	mongabay	2024-01-10	US
858	Spain sanctions fishing vessels for illegally going dark near Argentine waters	mongabay	2024-01-11	SP
859	Tories urged to end idiotic £1.8bn tax break for UK fishing fleet	theguardian	2024-01-13	UK
860	Former UMD coach lands huge fish through the ice	echopress	2024-01-21	US
861	Зимняя ориентация после праздников	ohotniki	2024-01-17	RU
862	6 Fish That Can Survive and Move Out of the Water	msn	2024-01-21	US
863	Scientists Reveal Secret World of Fish Countries That Divide Arkansas	newsweek	2024-01-08	US
864	Mating anchovies stir up the sea as much as a major storm	theconversation	2024-01-11	AU
865	Washington conservation group proposes listing Alaska king salmon under Endangered Species Act	alaskabeacon	2024-01-11	US
866	New funding available for fisheries projects across England	poandpo	2024-01-16	UK
867	People horrified after seeing how big a tuna fish actually is	unilad	2024-01-17	NO
868	Amorous fish blamed for mysterious sound around Florida bay	yahoo	2024-01-19	US
869	Whirling disease confirmed in B.C., sparking fears for fish populations	theweathernetwork	2024-01-20	CA
870	Notice of N.B. fish farm escape in December came too late	msn	2024-01-18	CA
871	Scientists identify, count tiny plastic particles in Lake Superior	echopress	2024-01-19	US
872	DSM-firmenich launches tool to measure LCAs in sea bass	thefishsite	2024-01-18	US
873	Сложная, но интересная ловля горбыля в Черном море	ohotniki	2024-01-14	RU
874	a battle over Alaska Native fishing rights heats up	salon	2024-01-04	US
875	fishermen have made a pact that safeguards their bay for future generations	ABC Rural	2024-01-05	AU