In July and August 2022, a dramatic mass die-off of fish, mussels and snails occurred in the Oder River, which began in Poland and then continued downstream. Over a period of two weeks, hundreds of tons of dead fish floated down the border river. Favoured by high salt loads, a long period of good weather and low water flow in the Oder, a brackish water alga called Prymnesium parvum was able to bloom on a massive scale.
In the joint project ODER~SO (Incident-related special investigation programme on the environmental disaster in the Oder in August 2022), scientists have been investigating the regeneration of the river and precautionary measures for possible future algal blooms since February 2023. The Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) is funding the project over three years with funds from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV).
You can find out more about ODER~SO on the following pages.
