Thousands of Dead Fish Due to Pollition in Lake Winnipeg 

While on the road to Thompson (Oktober, 2023) in Manitoba, we stumbled upon a town called Gimli (no, not named after that Gimli). It’s a small town located next to Lake Winnipeg and has been established by Icelandic settlers back in the 1800’s. Hence the Norse name. 🛕
We were excited to take a look at Lake Winnipeg but realized something was off when we jumped out of the van and smelled the stench of dead fish in the air. 👃🏼
As we made our way to the water, we saw thousands of fish gasping for air in a nearly completely closed off area at a small harbor. The water was covered in blue algae, which means the water is strongly polluted and prevents aquatic life from breathing underwater. In short, thousands of fish were already dead and more were soon to follow. 🐟
As ecologists and overall animal lovers, we couldn’t just stand by and watch. We knew we couldn’t save all the fish, but we wanted to save as many as we could. 🏃🏻🏃🏻‍♀
We figured that while the algae must be all over the lake, the enclosed area must’ve made it worse as fresh water couldn’t get in, so we had to transport them to open water. We ran back to the van, got our gloves, small net and bucket and started transporting them in oxygenated water towards the open area. 🌊
All kinds of fish were suffocating; pike, catfish, walleye, sticklebacks, trout, you name it and we tried to get it out of the water and moved more than 400 of them, all shapes and sizes (yes, even carrying pike by the hand) and got them to ‘healthy’ waters. 🐟🐠
Well, healthy is a big word. Lake Winnipeg has been one of the, if not the, most polluted lakes in the world due to the massive increase in the use of agricultural fertilizer, burning of fossil fuels, development of large urban populations, and an upsurge in land clearing and deforestation. Key ingredients are phosphorus, nitrogen, and carbon. This also gives rise to algae that are dangerous to not only animals, but also humans. 🧫
Unless action is taken, Lake Winnipeg will be a dead lake within our lifetime. ☠
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