Dolphin Death Toll Reaches 84 After Kerch Strait Oil Spill

The number of dolphins killed as a result of the invaders' tanker accident and fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait has reached 84.

According to Novosti Kryma, this was reported by the director of the Scientific and Ecological Center for Dolphin Rescue "Delphi" Tatiana Beley. She emphasized that since the end of January, the number of dead dolphins thrown away has decreased.

"So far, we cannot predict how many dolphins will die in the future. The cetaceans may have delayed effects: toxicants accumulated in the body can lead to a significant decrease in immunity and various diseases," Beley added.

At the same time, in mid-January, about 70 dead dolphins were reported found after the fuel oil spill.

Earlier, Odesa ecologists discovered that jellyfish poisoned by fuel oil were dying en masse on the coast of Odesa region. According to Ivan Rusev, an employee ofthe Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park, there were 2-3 jellyfish per meter on the sand along a two-kilometer stretch of coastline, with a total of about 5,000 individuals. There were even more of them in shallow water areas, but it was not possible to count their number. The scientist suggested that the jellyfish could have consumed nanofractions of oil products along with plankton, which could have serious environmental consequences.

Meanwhile, on the coast near the village of Mykolayivka, Serhiyivka community, Odesa region, environmentalists also discovered new areas contaminated with fuel oil. On January 29, utilities in Odesa region began work to clean up the coast from oil pollution. Earlier, employees of the Tuzly Estuaries National Park found fuel oil on the park's coast, which they collected and handed over to Vladyslav Balynskyi's private laboratory. After that, the Commission on Technogenic and Environmental Safety and Emergencies at the Odesa Regional State Administration held an extraordinary meeting.

The accident in the Kerch Strait became known on December 15. The shipwreck occurred near Cape Panagia in the Temryuk district of Krasnodar Krai, in the southwest of the Taman Peninsula, 12 kilometers from the village of Taman. It is the eastern entrance to the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea. According to official data, both tankers could have been carrying about 8,000 tons of oil products.

Олеся Ланцман