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
1901	Когда? На что ловить Белого Амура?	telegra	2023-03-01	RU
1902	Fisheries Department says it will shut 15 salmon farms off B.C.'s coast to protect wild fish	cbc	2023-02-17	CA
1903	Are Videos of Dead Fish Near Ohio Train Derailment Real?	snopes	2023-02-14	US
1904	Meet the sturddlefish, a new fish hybrid accidentally created by scientists	cnet	2020-07-22	US
1905	Watch the First Ever POV Video of World's Fastest Fish Stalking Prey	cnet	2023-02-15	US
1906	Fishing communities create marine refuges to protect Chile’s biodiversity	mongabay	2023-02-16	CL
1907	Sabah determined to stop fish bombing, takes stern action on offenders	nst	2023-02-17	MY
1908	Florence Pugh holds giant fish in new Vogue cover	totallyveganbuzz	2023-02-17	US
1909	Massive tuna fish 'kills itself' after flash photography at aquarium	dailystar	2023-01-12	UK
1910	Koi fish breeding business brings wealth to villages	Xinhua	2023-02-06	CN
1911	Fish can recognize themselves in photos, further evidence they may be self-aware	sciencenews	2023-02-06	US
1912	Four fishermen are rescued after floating for FIVE DAYS in a fishing box in the ocean	dailymail	2023-02-07	MY
1913	Pet fish purveyor keeps local aquariums filled	Capital Journal	2023-02-07	US
1914	Seafloor mapper Dave Bernstein knows how to find fish	coastalreview	2023-02-08	US
1915	Pet fish fee at Missouri apartment complex shocks potential renter	Fox News	2023-02-06	US
1916	Want to catch an Idaho dinosaur?	the Idaho Statesman	2023-02-07	US
1917	Critics allege EU’s ‘toxic collusion’ with fishing lobbies is damaging Indian Ocean tuna	mongabay	2023-02-07	US
1918	Why Florida Gulf Coast University researchers are following dead fish	WINK News	2023-02-10	US
1919	Levels of toxic mercury in canned tuna are so 'unpredictable' pregnant women should avoid it	dailymail	2023-02-09	UK
1920	Local vet 1 of 21 in the US who treat sick fish	kdvr	2023-02-06	US
1921	Tranquility Found on the Banks of the Moyeha River	souwestersportfishing	2015-12-01	CA
1922	Measuring estuary resilience to sea level rise at the Moyeha River	uuathluk	2020-08-18	CA
1923	Virginia fisherman reels in rare largemouth bass from river	FOX News	2023-02-14	US
1924	Texas fisherman reels in one of the heaviest largemouth bass in state history	Fox News	2023-02-16	US
1925	Rare spotted hand-fish pic among top winners of 2022	Fox News	2023-02-21	US