BBC News: Thousands of dead octopuses wash up on Portugal beach

[DWhatley]

Do you have a link to an article in English that talks about the results? I have been looking for more information but have not found an explaination.

 

[Firefly]

Hi

I don´t know about articles written in English, but you may use the google translator on the local news information:

http://ecosfera.publico.clix.pt/noticia.aspx?id=1417984


«Octopus died from excess freshwater into the sea
15/01/2010

The octopus that gave the coast in Vila Nova de Gaia died due to excessive fresh water ran into the ocean during the floods that ravaged the region in previous days, the analysis showed.

According to official sources from the Ministry of Agriculture, the analysis performed by the octopuses National Laboratory for Veterinary Research (LNIV), former IPIMAR revealed that there was an "imbalance in salinity" of the octopus that killed them.»

 

[DWhatley]

Thanks for the translation. I probably should not be but I am skeptical of the provided answer. In my mind, if the saltwater was THAT diluted, it would not have been just octopuses washing up.

 

[Firefly]

Thanks for the translation. I probably should not be but I am skeptical of the provided answer. In my mind, if the saltwater was THAT diluted, it would not have been just octopuses washing up.

I understand and respect your skepticism, after all , it´s quite pertinent.
I´m not sure if it were only octopuses that washed up , though the news only mentioned about it, I´m about to contact authorithies just to try to have some more informations.
Also, I´m not aware of how exactly all marine animals react to these sudden changes ( floods, heavy rains,etc..), maybe it´s a nice subject to evaluate and study.

 

[Firefly]

I did got an information that some octopuses did had eaten on the last 24 h before die ( after inside examination).
The pollution hypothesis is also out of question, if not some species that were said to be more vulnerable to that would die in big numbers ( like Dicentrarchus labrax or Sparus aurata).
The extension of the coastline that was affected by this happening was 5 kms.
Anyone wants to take a guess?
Illegal fishing boat surprised by an approaching authority, maybe? Not sure.
I hope to get some more info.

 

[DWhatley]

The fishing boat dump is my own guess and the excessive FW could be from freezing ...

 

[Firefly]

Thanks for your input. I have more informations, that I´ll post later.
Freezing is completely out of question, because temperatures were normal for the place and even during colder periods it never were registered happenings like this. This happening was in north Portugal ( not in MUCH warmer South), however this area is still relatively stable on temperature during the winter.

 

[DWhatley]

Sorry, the freezing I was referring to was on board a fishing vessle, not in the water. Many of them have a freezer to hold the catch and this many would not have been on a small boat.