Environmentalists collected evidence about more than 900 dead dolphins in the Black Sea – Ministry of Environment
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Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, Ukrainian ecologists have collected data on more than 900 dead dolphins in the Black Sea. The bodies of mammals were found on the coasts of Ukraine, Bulgaria and Turkey, reports the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Ruslan Strelets in an interview with The New York Times. According to him, in July, about 10 dead dolphins were found in one week. In total, more than 900 individuals were found, but it is difficult to name the exact number, because the bodies of dolphins can drift in the sea, said Strelets. Photo: Redders/Depositphotos He added that experts are now trying to establish the causes of death. Scientists suggest that this could be, in particular, due to Russian warships in the Black Sea, which use acoustic sonar signals. They can interfere with the dolphins’ orientation because they use their own natural sonar. As Pavlo Goldin, a doctor of zoology who specializes in marine mammal populations at the Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology, explained, the sound of low-flying planes over the sea injures dolphins. He suggested that the death of marine mammals can be influenced by several reasons at once. Sea mines that litter coastal waters and create deadly obstacles are also dangerous for dolphins. “Dolphins are not just cute creatures. They are key creatures to the marine ecosystem. If dolphins suffer, the entire ecosystem suffers,” added Goldin. Earlier, the biologist of the Tuzlivski Lymany Natural Park, Ivan Rusev, suggested that about 50,000 dolphins could have perished in the Black Sea due to the ships of the occupiers. It will be recalled that scientists continue to find dead dolphins in the waters of the Black Sea. In July 2023, animal bodies were spotted on the shores of the North-Western part of the sea, in the occupied Crimea, the Krasnodar Territory near Sochi and Novorossiysk. Read also: Because of the war, Black Sea dolphins migrated to shallow waters where there was little food
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