Hydrobiologist for “Wprost”: The carcass we see is a fraction of the whole. What will happen to the Baltic Sea?
The person who dumped the substance into the river is to blame, that’s obvious, but the problem of how rivers function has been downplayed for years. The current state of rivers is not, and certainly should not be, a political problem – says prof. Robert Czerniawski. The hydrobiologist also indicates how the poisoning of the Oder will affect the Baltic Sea.
Prof. Robert Czerniawski is a hydrobiologist and water ecologist and director of the Institute of Biology at the University of Szczecin. Together with his team from the Department of Hydrobiology, he has been researching the relationship between organisms inhabiting rivers and lakes and environmental conditions, and has also been involved in research on the Odra River for years.
Katarzyna Świerczyńska, “Wprost”: Every day I see photos of thousands of dead fish pulled from the Oder. And what does the biologist see?
Prof. Robert Czerniawski: I see decomposing organic matter. They’re not fish anymore. And please note, we only see what is in the surface drift. We cannot see at all what is now literally rolling along the bottom or lying there. I even stopped keeping track of how many tons of carcasses were collected, but it must be clearly stated that it is only a fraction of the total. What is now all over the riverbed and decaying is and will be the biggest problem.
