About 200 freshwater dolphins were found dead in Lake Tefe of the Amazon River in Brazil during a period of severe dry weather last year.去年，巴西亚马逊河的特弗斯湖遭遇严重干旱，大约200只淡水海豚被发现死亡。 That is why a team of biologists, animal doctors, and fishermen temporarily captured some river dolphins recently to study their health.这就是为什么一个由生物学家、动物医生和渔民组成的团队最近临时捕获了一些河豚，以研究它们的健康状况。 The researchers hope the findings will help protect the dolphins from another weather disaster.研究人员希望这些发现将有助于保护海豚免受另一场天气灾害。 One of the captured dolphins was a female with her offspring nearby.其中一只被捕获的海豚是一只雌性海豚，她的后代就在附近。 Fishermen were careful not to injure her and kept her close to her offspring to avoid stressing the animals.渔民们小心翼翼地不伤害她，并让她靠近她的后代，以避免给动物带来压力。 "She relaxed and we could do all the tests. She appeared in good health," said project leader Miriam Marmontel.“她很放松，我们可以做所有的测试。她看起来很健康，”项目负责人米里亚姆·马蒙泰尔说。 She is a researcher at the Mamiraua Institute of Sustainable Development based in Tefe, Brazil.她是巴西特菲马米拉乌亚可持续发展研究所的研究员。 The organization planned the temporary capture of up to 20 dolphins.该组织计划临时捕获多达20只海豚。 The team took blood from the animals and performed other medical tests.研究小组从动物身上抽血并进行了其他医学测试。 The work included removing a small amount of fat to see if harmful chemicals were in the dolphin's body.这项工作包括去除少量脂肪，看看海豚体内是否有有害化学物质。 They also put microchips in the animals to follow their movements.他们还在动物体内植入微芯片来跟踪它们的动作。 The Solimoes River feeds water into Lake Tefe.索利姆斯河将水注入特费湖。 Unusually dry weather last year caused water levels in the river to drop.去年异常干燥的天气导致河流水位下降。 As a result, the water became warmer than usual.结果，水变得比平时温暖。 Thousands of fish also died in the Amazon rivers because of a lack of oxygen in the water.由于水中缺氧，亚马逊河中还有数千条鱼死亡。 Many Amazon river dolphins are the color pink.许多亚马逊河海豚都是粉红色的。 They are found only in the rivers of South America, and they are among only a few kinds of freshwater dolphins still living in the world.它们仅存在于南美洲的河流中，是世界上仅存的少数淡水海豚之一。 Because they reproduce slowly, threats to their environment can more easily reduce their populations.因为它们繁殖缓慢，对环境的威胁更容易减少它们的数量。 Marmontel said researchers hope to better understand what caused last year's deaths, so that experts and officials can react faster to the effects of this year's dry weather.马蒙泰尔说，研究人员希望更好地了解去年死亡的原因，以便专家和官员能够更快地应对今年干旱天气的影响。 "We aim to learn more about the health of the dolphins at a time when water begins to go down and temperatures start to rise, so we can identify the changes and know whether they are due to higher temperatures or a toxin or pollutant in the water," she told Reuters.她告诉路透社:“我们的目标是在海水开始下降、温度开始上升的时候，更多地了解海豚的健康状况，这样我们就能识别出这些变化，并知道它们是由于温度升高还是水中的毒素或污染物造成的。” The river dolphin research project received financial support from the National Marine Mammal Foundation of California in the United States.该海豚研究项目获得了美国加利福尼亚州国家海洋哺乳动物基金会的财政支持。 That organization's researchers helped examine the dolphins using ultrasound technology.该组织的研究人员使用超声波技术帮助检查了海豚。 Marmontel said most of the dolphins that died last year were in Lake Tefe.马蒙泰尔说，去年死亡的大多数海豚都在特费湖。 The lake is very close to the Solimoes River.该湖非常靠近索利姆斯河。 The lake's waters reached 40.9 degrees Celsius during the 2023 dry season, more than 10 degrees higher than the average for that time of year.在2023年的旱季，湖水的温度达到40.9摄氏度，比一年中同期的平均温度高出10多度。 The water is now at 30 degrees Celsius, said Ayan Fleischmann.阿扬·弗莱施曼说，现在水温为30摄氏度。 He is a geosciences researcher at the Mamiraua Institute.他是马米拉乌亚研究所的地球科学研究员。 Environmental activists have blamed climate change for the severe dry weather that made the river water warmer than normal.环保活动人士将严重干旱天气归咎于气候变化，导致河水比正常情况下升高。 However, El Nino, the periodic and natural Pacific Ocean warming weather event could also have brought about last year's dry weather in the Amazon.然而，厄尔尼诺现象（太平洋周期性自然变暖天气事件）也可能导致亚马逊地区去年的干旱天气。 I'm Andrew Smith.安德鲁·史密斯报道。