Russia’s war continues to kill dolphins in Black Sea – environmentalists

Scientists continue to find dead dolphins in the waters of the Black Sea. Only in July, bodies were seen on the shores of its northwestern part, in the occupied Crimea, the Krasnodar Territory near Sochi, and Novorossiysk in Russia.

The Tuzly Lagoons National Natural Park reports that now the submarines of the Russian invaders are far from Ukrainian shores compared to last year's situation, so the total number of dead animals is much lower than the previous year. According to the National Park, at least 50,000 Black Sea cetaceans died in 2022.

Dead dolphins also continue to be found on the seashore in Bulgaria.

"Bottlenose dolphins (a genus of the dolphin family – ed.) dominate on the shores of our national park and nearby. Throughout July, animals also died in the Sea of Azov, where they created a deadly military load," environmentalists reported.

Also in July, the bodies of marine animals were seen on the shores of the northwestern part of the Black Sea, in the occupied Crimea, the Krasnodar Territory near Sochi and Novorossiysk.

The national park's monitoring of the number of dead dolphins has become more difficult over the past few weeks. Since July 13, workers have been completely prohibited from going to the seashore.

Environmentalists are actively trying to defend the right to continue monitoring the coast and conduct important activities there.

Dolphins suffer a lot from oil and fuel spills and sonars, that is, means of sound detection of underwater objects, which are used during hostilities. They poison the water, which leads to the death of marine life.

Rubryka visited the Tyzly Lagoons National Natural Park in the southern Odesa region to find out how harmful the war is to the environment. This article is the third in a series of long reads about the problems caused by military actions on the Black Sea coast. It is devoted to one of the saddest topics – the death of dolphins.

Read more in our article: Why are Black Sea dolphins dying, and how long will we have to wait to restore their population?