The same occurs with the Paraguay affluent streams. The water spreads and covers broad expanses, seeking a natural outlet, which will only be found hundreds of kilometers downstream, at the confluence of the river and the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the Brazilian territory. Every May the ebbing starts and the water level slowly begins to fall. The wealth of the pantanal Nature repeats, every year, the spectacle of the floods that ensure the renewal of the fauna and flora of the Pantanal . The huge volume of water, which practically covers the whole Pantanal region, is a veritable fresh water ocean, where thousands of fish live.
Small fish feed larger bird and other animal species.
When the water level comes down, large numbers of fish are trapped in the lagoons and bays, unable to go back to the rivers. As waters continue to fall in the new shallow lagoons, fish like dourado, pacu and tra ra can be caught by hand. Small and large birds are seen planing over the water, a scene of endless beauty. The Pantanal has undergone slow albeit significant changes in the last few decades. New settlements and urban growth are a constant threat.