European explorers and naturalists trekking through the
On the environmental side of things, Fosnight shares that many organizations and experts stress that urine is not good for bodies of water, specifically fresh water. Human urine contains something called nitrates, which can cause increased algae in the water, making it toxic to the fish and other wildlife.
Piranhas and Other Predators
While attacks on humans by piranhas are rare, they do occur. In addition, other predators in the Amazon River, such as caimans and anacondas, can also pose a threat to swimmers.
Supposedly, the fish mistakes urine for water expelled from the gills of marine life. To the extreme agony of the unlucky person, the Candiru swims up… into their genitals. Spines on its head make it very difficult to extract. Amputation is sometimes the only course of action that can be taken.
Candirú is a tiny Amazonian parasitic catfish reported to swim into urethral and other body openings of unprotected bathers. It is also known as canero, carnero, and urethra fish, and is a member of the genus Vandellia.
Trichomoniasis is the most frequent parasitic disease in the world which occurs because of Trichomonas vaginalis trophozoites' involvement in urogenital system sexually. This disease underlies vaginitis which is frequent in females, but it gives rise to urethritis and prostatitis in male.
To date, there is only one documented case of a candiru entering a human urethra, which took place in Itacoatiara, Brazil, in 1997. In this incident, the victim (a 23-year-old man known only as "F.B.C.") claimed a candiru "jumped" from the water into his urethra as he urinated while thigh-deep in a river.
The swim bladder is located in the body cavity and is derived from an outpocketing of the digestive tube. It contains gas (usually oxygen) and functions as a hydrostatic, or ballast, organ, enabling the fish to maintain its depth without floating upward or sinking.
No, the Amazon River's water is not safe for humans to drink, as it is far too muddy and has too many biological components; a person who drank this water would likely get sick.
On Sunday, April 8, 200 7, 52-year old Martin Strel completed the first-ever swim of the 3,274-mile-long Amazon River.
The Man who Swam the Amazon River
On April 8, 2007, a brave swimmer named Martin Strel conquered 3,274 miles of the Amazon River. Even more shocking, he swam for only 66 days!
Though generally speaking peeing in the sea is pretty harmless to people, it can have some bad effects to the environment. Nitrogen (which is found in urine) causes algae to grow, and this is detrimental to coral.
Urine, a salty water solution containing low levels of urea (a waste product left after our bodies process protein), is greatly diluted in the already salty ocean. Swimmer urine makes a much more significant contribution in a pool, especially a crowded one.
When it comes to swimming in lakes or beaches, avoid those with high bacterial levels. It should also be noted that it is less safe to pee in the still water of a lake than the moving waves of the ocean. Lower your chances of getting a UTI by changing out of wet bathing suits as soon as possible.
Fish swim bladders are perfectly edible, nutritious, and beautifully interesting. Talk to a chef about nose-to-tail eating, and they'll tell you it just makes sense.
Fish have kidneys which produce urine containing ammonium, phosphorus, urea, and nitrous waste. The expelled urine encourages plant growth on coral reefs; downstream benefits also include increased fertilization of algae and seagrass, which in turn provides food for the fish.
Bacterial infection of the swim bladder causes fish to lose control of their buoyancy which results in severe stress and untimely death.
A translucent, eellike fish about 2.5 cm (1 inch) long, the candiru feeds on blood and is commonly found in the gill cavities of other fishes. It sometimes also attacks humans and has been known to enter the urethras of bathers and swimming animals.
Candirus of the genus Vandellia are small (usually around 4-8 cm but can reach a size of 20 cm), have an elongated body (Figure 1A), and their mouths contain sharp, needle-like teeth.
Sometimes, these organisms are humans. This fish resides exclusively in the Amazon Basin (Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.)
When it comes to eating the fish of the Amazon River, gamitana (Colossoma macropomum) is one of the most sought after due to its tasty flesh. Also known as tambaqui or giant pacu, the gamitana is a large bass-like fish that can weigh almost 100 pounds.
It is now believed that the fish finds a host by visual cues. The Candiru was thought to follow the smell of ammonia in human urine. In fact, despite many "stories" of this fish entering the bodies of humans urinating in rivers, the first documented case was not until 1997.