00:00 The carcasses of 120 river dolphins have been found floating in a tributary of the Amazon
00:07 River in Brazil over the last week.
00:10 Experts suspect that the deaths were caused by severe drought and heat.
00:15 A research group at Brazil's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, named
00:20 the Mami Rauba Institute, said that two more dead dolphins were found on Monday in the
00:25 region around Tepe Lake.
00:28 Experts believe high water temperatures are the most likely cause of the deaths as temperatures
00:33 since last week have exceeded 39 degrees Celsius in the Tepe Lake region.
00:39 Local media reported that thousands of fish have also died.
00:43 As per reports, Amazon River dolphins are a unique freshwater species found only in
00:48 the rivers of South America and are one of a handful of freshwater dolphin species left
00:53 in the world.
00:55 Experts say that slow reproductive cycles make their populations especially vulnerable
00:59 to threats.
01:00 According to reports, Brazil's Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation has
01:06 rushed veterinarians and aquatic mammal experts to rescue dolphins still alive in the lake.
01:13 Scientists do not know with certainty that drought and heat are to blame for the spike
01:17 in dolphin mortality.
01:18 They are working to rule out other causes, such as a bacterial infection that could have
01:24 killed the dolphins.
01:25 But at least 70 of the carcasses surfaced last week when the temperature of Lake Tepe's
01:31 water reached 39 degrees Celsius, more than 10 degrees higher than the average for this
01:35 time of the year.
01:37 Experts said that the water temperature declined for a few days but rose again on Sunday to
01:42 37 degrees Celsius.
01:44 Environmental activists have blamed the unusually hot conditions on climate change, which makes
01:50 droughts and heat waves more likely and severe.
01:54 The mayor of Tepe, which is a city of 60,000 residents, said that his government was unable
01:59 to deliver food directly to some isolated communities because the rivers were dry.
02:04 [Music]
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