Guanabara Bay

History

Guanabara Bay was first encountered by Europeans on January 1, 1502, when Portuguese explorers Gaspar de Lemos and Gonçalo Coelho arrived on its shores. According to some historians, the name given by the exploration team to the bay was originally Ria de Janeiro ("January's Ria"). Then confusion took place between the words ria and rio ("river"). As a result, the name of the bay was soon fixed as Rio de Janeiro. Later, the city was named after the bay. Natives of the Tamoio and Tupiniquim tribes inhabited the shores of the bay.

After the initial arrival of the Portuguese, no significant European settlements were established until French colonists and soldiers, under the Huguenot Admiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon invaded the region in 1555 to establish the France Antarctique. They stayed briefly on Lajes Island, then moved to Serigipe Island, near the shore, where they built Fort Coligny. After they were expelled by Portuguese military expeditions in 1563, the colonial government built fortifications in several points of Guanabara Bay, rendering it almost impregnable against a naval attack from the sea. They were the Santa Cruz, São João, Lajes and Villegaignon forts, forming a fearsome crossfire rectangle of big naval guns. Other islands were adapted by the Navy to host naval storehouses, hospitals, drydocks, oil reservoirs and the National Naval Academy.

Underwater exploration in the bay was disallowed by the Brazilian government in 1985 amid a dispute with American writer and treasure hunter Robert Marx, who claimed to have found evidence of a Roman shipwreck. Carl Feagans tells of 16 amphorae made for antiques-lover Americo Santarelli in 1960 or 1961, all 16 of which deliberately sunk in the bay for them to acquire the look of ancient artefacts covered in barnacles and corals; 4 of the 16 original amphorae were subsequently recovered, leaving 12 scattered about the bay, where two were found by lobster divers in 1974.

Description

There are more than 130 islands dotting the bay, including:

• Lajes
• Ilha do Governador – site of Rio de Janeiro's Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport
• Ilha de Paquetá
• Ilha das Cobras
• Flores
• Ilha Fiscal
• Ilha da Boa Viagem
• Villegagnon
• Fundão

The bay is crossed by the Rio-Niterói Bridge (13.29 km long and with a central span 72 m high) and there is heavy boat and ship traffic, including regular ferryboat lines. The Port of Rio de Janeiro, as well as the city's two airports, Galeão - Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport (on Governador Island) and Santos Dumont Airport (on reclaimed land next to downtown Rio), are on its shores. The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro main campus is on the artificial Fundão Island. A maze of smaller bridges interconnect the two largest islands, Fundão and Governador, to the mainland.

There is an Environmental Protection Area (APA), which is mostly in the municipality of Guapimirim and given the name of Guapimirim APA.

Environment

Guanabara Bay's once rich and diversified ecosystem has suffered extensive damage in recent decades, particularly along its mangrove areas. The bay has been heavily impacted by urbanization, deforestation, and pollution of its waters with sewage, garbage, and oil spills. As of 2014, more than 70% of the sewage from 12 million inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro now flows into the bay untreated.

There have been three major oil spills in Guanabara Bay. The most recent was in 2000 when a leaking Petrobras underwater pipeline released 1,300,000 L of oil into the bay, destroying large swaths of the mangrove ecosystem. Recovery measures are currently being attempted, but more than a decade after the incident, the mangrove areas have not returned to life.

One of the world's largest landfills is at Jardim Gramacho adjacent to Guanabara Bay. It was closed in 2012 after 34 years of operation. The landfill attracted attention from environmentalists and it supported 1,700 people scavenging for recyclable materials.

As part of the preparations for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the government was supposed to improve the conditions, but progress has been slow. There have been concerns that the efforts may only be short-term and abandoned following the Games, as there would be little political incentive to continue with them.

The marine ecosystem of Guanabara Bay was severely damaged; the bay was once a whaling ground,Jorge S.. 2013. Baleias na Baía da Guanabara. Primeira Leitura. Retrieved on September 18, 2017 and today, whales are no longer or rarely seen while Bryde's whales can be seen around the bay entrance.Lima D. L.. 2016. Frequentes na orla do Rio neste verão, baleias-de-bryde despertam curiosidade.Globo.com. Retrieved on September 18, 2017 The bay is also home to a population of botos and this population faces severe risks of population decline.

References

References

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