Thousands of dead fish in Rio’s Olympic sailing venue baffles scientists

Thousands of dead fish have begun mysteriously washing up in the polluted Rio bay that will host sailing and rowing events at the 2016 Olympics - and experts are at a loss to explain why. Guanabara Bay has already been the subject of concern amongst sailors who are to compete in Rio because of the human sewage that gets pumped into its waters. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has expressed confidence that Guanabara will be fit for purpose by the time of the games.

We have no answer yet about what happened, but we can certainly exclude the hypothesis of a chemical pollution killing the fish.

Leandro Daemon of the National Institute for the Environment

But the recent appearance of thousands of dead fish, and the foul stench of their rotting carcasses, has attracted further scrutiny with the Olympics less than two years away. Scientists are baffled by the phenomenon but say there is no evidence so far to suggest pollution is the cause. The foul odor first took over the usually peaceful Paqueta Island. Worried fishermen and islanders are pointing the finger at the petrochemical activities of state giant Petrobras. Five of the fish were sent to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro’s biology department for analysis, and the results will be announced in a week.

We want to know why so many fish have died. The rotten smell is horrible and there are many flies on the island. The authorities tell us nothing.

Vilma Leocadio of the Paqueta citizens’ association

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