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 in 2019, when another serious episode of fish deaths occurred. (then 3 tons were collected).
“Without doubt, mortality is significantly higher than it was then,” Ser Pedro García, spokesman for the Association of Naturalists of the Southeast, told Cadena radio. The causes of the observed phenomenon are being studied: it is feared that, as in the case of the 2019 die-off, it is a phenomenon of anoxia (lack of oxygen) and the presence of substances harmful to fish in the water. For years, environmental groups active in the area have been denouncing 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 agonizing on the shore by bringing them to areas with clean water.