Toxic golden algae is probably the reason why many dead fish were found in the Oder River near the town of Głogów last week, according to Polish authorities.
Water samples revealed a high incidence of golden algae, the spokesman for the regional administration in Lower Silesia told the PAP news agency on Tuesday. At present, the values are significantly lower and there are no further reports of dead fish.
Last week, 600 kilograms of dead fish were recovered from the Oder near Głogów within three days. The authorities in the German state of Brandenburg also discovered dead fish on the German-Polish border river last week. The situation there is said to have since eased somewhat too.
There was a previous mass fish-death incident in the Oder in the summer of 2022. Experts found that high salinity, low water levels, high temperatures and the toxic effects of a bloom of golden algae were the main causes of that environmental disaster.
