Mekong runoff, Laos | along the Mekong | flovision - photography by Florian Christian | flovision

Mekong runoff, Laos

Jan-2012

The border between Laos and Cambodia, with some residue foaming on the surface of the river, just below the last rapids of the Khone Paphaeng waterfalls. Right here on the Cambodian side are deep pools, that used to be inhabited, including during my visits in 2012 and 2013, by one of the last remaining populations of the critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphins. In an IUCN report from 2023 however I read the dolphins are no longer here, and even fewer now remain some 150km down river near Kratie. Changed hydrology caused by dams upstream, combined with illegal fishing and logging, all exacerbated by climate change, are factors in the damage to these ecosystems.

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