The incident occurred over the Eid al-Adha holiday…

Over the recent Eid al-Adha holiday, a number of concerned visitors to Al Qudra Lakes put in calls to Dubai Municipality reporting that they had stumbled across the carcasses of several birds and fish washed up along the banks of the popular man-made lake.

In a report from Gulf News, Dubai Municipality confirmed that an investigation was underway with officials from the Environment Department, Waste Management Department and Dubai Safari working to figure out what exactly caused the incident.

Samples were extracted from the lake where the animals were found and taken to Dubai Central Lab for testing.

So, what could have caused this?

It turns out that it was a combination of factors mainly related Dubai’s blazing summer temperatures.

In a statement released earlier today by the Environment Department of Dubai Municipality, the true culprit was revealed:“The main reason for the dead fish is oxygen depletion, mainly due to high water temperature and high nutrient content.”

That particular weekend (between August 31 and September 3) temperatures in the internal areas of the UAE reached in excess of 47 degrees which may have been difficult for some animals to deal with.

 

“Further, the absence of [a] water flushing mechanism in the lake resulted [in] high nutrient content caused [due to] cumulative deposit of avifaunal and wildlife excrement. This coupled with high temperatures exacerbated the increase of algal density in the lakes, which competes with [availability] of oxygen in the water.”

For us laymen, that boils down to: very hot weather + lack of proper water circulation + too much animal feces = reduced oxygen levels in the water and, sadly, lots of dead animals.

Thankfully, this appears to be an isolated case and no further such incidents have been reported in the weeks since.

Al Qudra Lakes has become a popular spot for over 130 species of migratory birds who have taken up residence there since a huge renovation project overhauled the area in 2015.

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