Dead fish appear in the waters and sand of Praia da Barra da Tijuca

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Christina Dias, a civil servant from Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, came to the capital to spend the holiday season with friends and family, but was surprised by the situation while walking along the coast.

— A strong smell and the beach is crowded. People should avoid dead fish. The bathers themselves gather the animals into small piles. My granddaughter went into the water, saw fish floating and now she doesn’t want to leave the tent, Christina said.

Biologist Mario Moscatelli explained that the animals found in Barra da Tijuca are mules. According to him, it is not yet possible to determine their exact origin, but it is possible that the fish come from the Marapendi lagoon, in Jacarepaguá, also in the southwest area.

— With the heavy rains last week, which left around 100 mm in 24 hours in the region, everything flowed into the rivers towards the lagoons, which are already functioning at their limit due to wastewater. The situation is normally no longer good, so it has become even worse and it is the fish’s decision — said Moscatelli.

The expert added that the animals could have been transported through the Joatinga Canal, which flows into the sea at station one, and taken by the tide to station two in Barra.

In recent days, Moscatelli had shared images on his social networks showing a large number of dead fish in the lagoons of Marapendi and Camorim, also in the South-West zone. In the caption, he pointed out that the combination of already restrictive environmental conditions and recent rains has led to deaths and intense bad odors, and warned that recovering the lagoons takes time and work.

In a press release, Comlurb indicated that it had removed approximately three tonnes of dead fish near the General Felicíssimo Cardoso bridge, with Dulcídio Cardoso, in the water mirror of the Marapendi lagoon, with the company’s nautical team, since last Thursday. The service has already ended, but there is no information about the fish found in Barra da Tijuca.

The presence of dead fish has attracted the attention of swimmers and residents, reinforcing concerns about the environmental quality of the lagoons and the need for constant monitoring.