A dolphin stranded in the Black Sea – Photo: Business Insider
This summer several dolphins were found dead on a beach near the port city of Odessa in southern Ukraine, the cause of which has not been determined.
sheet wise new York TimesMr. Ruslan Strylets, Ukraine’s Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, said that environmental investigators have collected data related to more than 900 cases of dolphin deaths. This number includes those found off the coast of Ukraine, as well as those bordering the Black Sea, Turkey and Bulgaria.
Pavel Goldin, a 44-year-old zoologist specializing in marine mammal populations at the Ukraine Center for Marine Ecological Sciences, says dolphins are key creatures in the marine ecosystem. If dolphins are in bad shape, the entire ecosystem is in bad shape too.
Ukraine has raised many doubts regarding the death of the dolphin. For example, the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam released trillions of gallons of contaminated water into the Dnieper River and the Black Sea; Russian warships in the Black Sea constantly use acoustic sonar signals that scientists say can interfere with dolphins’ sense of direction…
Dr Goldin said explosions, missile launches and low-flying Russian warplanes also add to the noise, which injures dolphins.
In addition, contaminants from explosives and fuel spills, as well as a variety of war-related floating debris, have damaged large parts of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve. It is the largest protected area in Ukraine, classified as a wetland of international importance.
However, Mr Goldin cautioned that it was too early to conclude that the mass deaths of dolphins were caused by a single cause: war.
Flood water is also a reason, as it contains heavy metals, pesticides and substances like nitrogen, phosphorus etc., which get deposited in the sediments. Those substances cause algae to thrive and can be toxic.
In 2019 a large Ukrainian study in the Black Sea found that the region was home to some 400,000 dolphins of all types.
Environment is among 10 points of President Zelensky’s peace talks
Maxim Popov, an adviser to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, who is an expert in environmental issues, said that Ukraine is currently developing a strategy for prosecuting environmental war crimes and genocide. The environment, he said, is often called a “silent victim” of war.
In a sign that Kiev takes the issue seriously, President Volodymyr Zelensky included immediate environmental protection in a 10-point peace plan that is the foundation for negotiations to end the war.
