gekkogecko
08-11-2003, 09:32 AM
URL:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=10&u=/nm/20030811/od_nm/odd_germany_eels_dc
Text:
Heatwave Kills 30,000 Eels
BERLIN (Reuters) - Soaring temperatures have claimed the lives of 30,000 eels in Europe's busiest waterway, the river Rhine, authorities said Friday.
A spokesman for the Environment Ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia said 15,000 of the eels had died in the state, with another 15,000 deaths recorded in the Dutch section of the 820 mile river.
The ministry said the deaths of the normally robust animals were largely caused by an increased incidence of a bacterial plague caused by high water temperatures, which have been more than five degrees Celsius above average.
Temperatures around the Rhine have been nearing 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), with water temperatures measured at 26.6 degrees.
"However, we assume that the eel deaths have passed their peak, because hardly any new dead animals were found in the last two days," the spokesman said.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=573&ncid=757&e=10&u=/nm/20030811/od_nm/odd_germany_eels_dc
Text:
Heatwave Kills 30,000 Eels
BERLIN (Reuters) - Soaring temperatures have claimed the lives of 30,000 eels in Europe's busiest waterway, the river Rhine, authorities said Friday.
A spokesman for the Environment Ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia said 15,000 of the eels had died in the state, with another 15,000 deaths recorded in the Dutch section of the 820 mile river.
The ministry said the deaths of the normally robust animals were largely caused by an increased incidence of a bacterial plague caused by high water temperatures, which have been more than five degrees Celsius above average.
Temperatures around the Rhine have been nearing 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), with water temperatures measured at 26.6 degrees.
"However, we assume that the eel deaths have passed their peak, because hardly any new dead animals were found in the last two days," the spokesman said.