Odesa Beaches Clear of Oil Pollution After State Inspection Findings

State inspectors conducted a spot inspection of Odesa beaches for new cases of oil pollution. No pollution was found.

This was reported by the State Ecological Inspectorate of the Southwestern District.

Sea water samples were also taken near the Zolotoy Bereg beach to test for oil products. According to the results of laboratory tests, no exceedances of the maximum permissible concentrations of oil products in water were found.

As a reminder, the accident in the Kerch Strait became known on December 15. The shipwreck occurred near Cape Panagia in the Temryuksky 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.

Later, a concentrated oil slick was spotted in the Sea of Azov, which as of January 11, 2025, was located just 10 kilometers south of the tip of the Berdiansk Spit, had an approximate area of 300 square kilometers and stretched for almost 100 kilometers along the Bilosaray Bay.

Later, it became known that the number of dolphins killed as a result of the invaders' tanker accident and fuel oil spill in the Kerch Strait reached 84.

Odesa ecologists also discovered that jellyfish poisoned by fuel oil are 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 consume nanofractions of oil products along with plankton, which could have serious environmental consequences.

Сергій Лозовський