increasing in number each year due to brazil's economic expansion, over 2,000 commercial ships dock in the port of rio de janeiro anually -  the bay is home to one commercial seaport, a marina, two navy bases, and a shipyard.

the greater metropolitan area of rio has a population of nearly 12 million, and the domestic waste of the 8 million inhabitants who live in the bay area is still discharged in the waters mostly untreated - making guanabara bay eutrophic. organic material causes excessive growth of algae and when it decays depletes oxygen from the water, harming fish, shellfish, birds, and reducing clarity.