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
1	A tiny, endangered fish lies on the path of Highway 413	The Narwhal	2024-09-24	CA
2	Wisconsin officials ask the public to report algal blooms in Lake Superior	Great Lakes Echo	2024-09-24	US
3	Strange alien-like fish washes up on Oregon beach	Fox News	2024-09-24	US
4	Warmer temperatures have put chinook salmon — and a way of life	CBC News	2024-09-08	CA
5	B.C. fish farm slapped with hefty fine for illegal operations	cheknews	2024-09-08	CA
6	N.S. village wants huge, abandoned moorings moved from fishing area	city news	2024-09-12	CA
7	Study looks at how many forever chemical are found in fish in Tampa Bay	wusf	2024-09-13	US
8	Yes, there were fish swimming on Kenner roads after Hurricane Francine	nola	2024-09-13	US
9	9 charged in illegal catfish harvest operation in Kentucky	wnky	2024-09-10	US
10	Tiny fish found to check its body size in the mirror	expressandstar	2024-09-11	UK
11	Britons struggle to name common fish, survey shows	theguardian	2024-09-13	UK
12	Canada Anglers To Be Fined $100,000 If They Release Smallmouth Bass	whiskeyriff	2024-09-18	CA
13	Salmon farmer backs beach cleans	thefishsite	2024-09-19	UK
14	A Sturgeon goes to Wisconsin and a Michigan muskie visits New York	great lakes now	2024-09-16	US
15	Вице-премьер Патрушев рассказал, что даст реформа рыбной отрасли	RG	2024-09-18	RU
16	Fishing captain pulls rabbit out of his hat	yahoo	2024-08-31	AU
17	Thailands battle against invasive alien blackchin tilapia	yahoo	2024-09-01	MY
18	Fukushima fishermen not in the clear yet	japan times	2024-09-02	JP
19	Wexford man goes fishing for a cause close to his heart	independent	2024-09-01	IE
20	There are many fewer fish than previously believed	yourweather	2024-08-28	UK
21	Maldives drops plan to reopen longline tuna fishing following protests	mongabay	2024-09-05	MV
22	Divers catch record 31,773 venomous fish in tournament off Florida coast	the news tribune	2024-09-16	US
23	Advanced biomass camera proves a success for New Zealand salmon farms	the fish site	2024-09-16	NZ
24	The company blurring the lines between salmonid farming and conservation	the fish site	2024-09-11	AZ
25	230 anglers caught illegally fishing in marine reserves around New Zealand	NZ Herald	2024-09-06	NZ