Due to the drought, saltwater carried jellyfish into the Danube

Due to severe drought and falling water levels, seawater has flowed into the Danube, bringing with it large numbers of jellyfish. These creatures clog fishing nets with their slime and tear them apart, and they also sting the caught fish, which ruins their marketable appearance.

This was reported by Pridunavye-Online. 

The Danube Deltaecosystem is being destroyed, and the region’s fishing industry is facing difficult times. Carp, crucian carp, and bream—species typically found in the river—are migrating upstream, and marine species are taking their place. The bottom layer of the river, which is salty, is virtually devoid of oxygen; combined with toxins from the jellyfish, this threatens to cause a mass die-off of bottom-dwelling fish. 

Scientists note that due to climate change, such extreme low water levels in the Odesa region are becoming a regular occurrence.

Earlier,Alexander Voloshkevich , director of the Danube Biosphere Reserve,told Intent that due to a sharp decrease in the Danube’s flow, saltwater has begun to intrude upstream, threatening the river’s ecosystem and the agricultural sector.

The fact is that, starting in the second ten-day period of July, a powerful wedge of seawater entered the Danube again—as in previous years—rising above the town of Vylkove to Yermakiv Island (23 km up the Danube) and entering the Solomonove estuary. As in previous years, the wedge entered the deep, navigable Bystre Estuary. At the same time, in early July, the wedge began to enter the Ochakiv Estuary as well, reaching it via the Potapove Estuary. Seawater has now risen 27 kilometers upstream along theDanube.

As Oleksandr Voloshkevych explained, the saltwater could thus reach the drinking water intake and damage the fields irrigated from the Danube. The influx of seawater is also causing significant harm to commercial fishing on the river. The fact is that there are large concentrations of jellyfish in the seawater wedge, which have completely blocked fishing operations becausedriftnets could not be towed down the river.

Юлія Калабайда