Thirty-two dolphins have died since two storm-hit tankers spilled fuel oil three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, which separates the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula from the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, it was announced on Sunday. an animal protection association.
Russia’s Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Center said the deaths were “most likely linked to the oil spill.”
The center said on messaging app Telegram that a total of 61 dead cetaceans – an order of aquatic mammals that includes whales and dolphins – had been recorded since the emergency, but the condition of the bodies suggested that the 29 others had died before the oil spill. .
“Judging by the state of the bodies, it is very likely that the majority of these cetaceans died within 10 days of the disaster. And now the sea continues to wash them away,” the center wrote, noting that most of the dead dolphins belonged to the endangered Azov species.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said on Sunday that more than 96,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed by officials and volunteers along the coastline of Anapa and Temryuk districts of the Krasnodar region. .
The ministry said it was working to clean up after the incident, but “strong winds and waves” had blown oil onto some beaches.
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“More than 68 kilometers of coastline have been cleaned,” the statement said.
In another statement on Sunday, the ministry said two new oil slicks had been discovered.
One was off the seaside resort of Anapa and the other in Kapsel Bay, according to a statement cited by the Russian news agency TASS.
The news agency said the second slick was two kilometers long.
The type of fuel oil involved in the incident is particularly difficult to clean because it is dense and heavy and does not float on the surface, Russian authorities say.
Russian-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency on Saturday after oil was detected off the coast of Sevastopol, the peninsula’s largest city, located about 250 kilometers from the Kerch Strait.
On December 23, the ministry estimated that up to 200,000 tonnes in total may have been contaminated by mazut, a poor-quality heavy petroleum product.
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the oil spill an “ecological disaster.”
The Kerch Strait is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the Inland Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It was also a key point in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine following Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused the Russia to attempt to illegally take control of the region. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office, called last month’s oil spill a “large-scale environmental disaster” and called for additional sanctions against Russian oil tankers.
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Oil spills have had an impact on marine life in recent years. Last year, an oil spill that spilled more than 34,000 gallons into a southern Louisiana bayou killed at least 17 aquatic salamanders and three turtles, while three ducks and three alligators were reportedly covered in oil.
In 2022, a massive diesel spillI’ve killed thousands of animals near New Orleans. The previous year, Louisiana wildlife officials said they had documented more than 100 birds soaked in oil after the spill of crude oil from a flooded refinery during Hurricane Ida.
In 2020, at least 38 dead dolphins stranded on Mauritius following a massive oil spill from a Japanese ship.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.