(ANSA) - MADRID, AUGUST 23 - The episode of death of thousands of fish and crustaceans continues since the beginning of last week in the salt lagoon of the Mar Menor, located in the south-east of Spain: it is an ecological emergency that has caused maximum alert among experts and environmental activists.
According to the latest data provided by local authorities and reported by the Iberian media, at least 4.5 tons of fish and other dead organisms have already been collected, a figure higher than that of 2019, when another serious episode of fish death occurred (at that time they were collected 3 tons). "Without a doubt, mortality is significantly higher than it was then," Pedro García, spokesman for the Association of Southeast Naturalists, told CadenaSer radio.
The causes of the observed phenomenon are being studied: it is feared that, as in the case of the 2019 death, it is a phenomenon of anoxia (lack of oxygen) and the presence of substances harmful to fish in the water is not excluded.
For years, environmental groups active in the area have denounced how the waters of the Mar Menor are subject to episodes of pollution caused by the intensive agricultural activities of the areas surrounding the lagoon. Experts from the Spanish Institute of Oceanography are analyzing what is happening.
People on vacation in the affected area, reports Cadena Ser, are volunteering to try to save the few fish still alive left in agony by returning them to areas with clean water. (HANDLE).