The dry season is part of the ecological cycle in the Amazon, but due to the current historical drought, some of the shallow and even deeper areas of Lago Tefé in Brazil reached a temperature of 39°C. On September 3, Amazon River dolphins(Inia geoffrensis) and tucuxi(Sotalia fluviatilis) began to turn up dead in the Lago Tefé region. The peak was reached on September 28 with 70 dead animals. A total of 154 dead dolphins were found through September. At this point, the Mamirauá Institute contacted the YAQU PACHA organization, which immediately asked its partners for help and assembled a network of volunteers to complement the rescue efforts on the ground.
YAQU PACHA, in collaboration with Aiuká, NMMF and IFAW, immediately established a rescue team for the Amazon dolphins and tucuxi in Tefé.
Below is the report as PDF and an overview of the actions of these teams...
River_Dolphin_Rescue_Operation_Tefe_Aiuka-YaquPacha
The teams:
YAQU PACHA in partnership with Aiuká:
Rodolfo Silva, Waleska Gravena
International Fund for Animal Welfare(ifaw):
Sarah Sharp, Kira Kasper
National Marine Mammal Foundation(NMMF):
Forrest Gomez, Jammy Eichman, Eric Franks
