Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
DOZENS OF SEA mammals have been found dead since last month’s Russian oil tanker spill in the Black Sea, a dolphin rescue centre has said.
The spill began on 15 December, when two ageing Russian tankers were caught in a storm off the Kerch Strait linking Crimea to southern Russia.
One sank and the other ran aground, pouring around 2,400 tonnes of a heavy fuel oil called mazut into the surrounding waters, authorities estimate.
Russia’s Delfa centre, which rescues and rehabilitates dolphins, said it had recorded 61 dead cetaceans since the incident, 32 of whom “most likely” died due to the spill.
Cetaceans are a type of aquatic mammal that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises.
“Judging by the condition of the bodies, most likely the bulk of these cetaceans died in the first 10 days after the disaster,” it said on Telegram.
It said most of those killed were “Azov” dolphins — a type of harbour porpoise that look similar to dolphins but are more closely related to belugas and narwhals.
Russia’s emergency ministry said today that it was working to clean up after the incident but that “strong winds and waves” had thrown oil onto some beaches.
“More than 68 kilometres of coastline have been cleaned,” it said.
In a further statement today, the ministry said two new oil slicks had been discovered.
One was off the seaside resort of Anapa and the other in the bay of Kapsel, it said in a statement cited by the Russian news agency TASS.
The news agency said the second slick was two kilometres long.
Hundreds of volunteers have been deployed to scoop up contaminated soil from beaches in Crimea and along Russia’s southern coast.
The type of fuel oil involved in the incident is particularly hard to clean because it is dense and heavy and does not float on the surface, Russian authorities say.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
He is bad news to both man and beast.
@Mary.E.: deep water horizon,
Atlantic Empress, Gulf war oil spill, Exxon Valdez oil spill, Angola, Persian gulf, Mexico, Torrey Canyon, MT Haven, Amoco Cadiz and many many more…. Park your anti Russian nonsense. An environmental disaster for sure, but no need for the biased twist
@Kjg: On the contrary, there’s every need for it. Puck Futin.
@honey badger: again, straight facts…. America has SLAUGHTERED many, many more hundreds of thousands, if not far more, since the Second World War, than Russia. And without Russia, the 2nd WW would have been lost. All facts conveniently forgotten or ignored by the likes of you…. Beyond pathetic
@Kjg: ” Russia” – bulked by several countries who got the phuk out of the USSR at the first opportunity – only survived via US lend lease to defeat their former Nazi allies. Tell me about the 2 million Afghanis killed by Russia. I’m not American, so throwing out some whataboutery is pointless. Putin is a murderous mafia kleptocrat. His irredentist Invasions, particularly of Ukraine, will be his own undoing. He’s flushing his country down the jacks.
@Kjg: The Mammals are still dead.
@Mary.E.: Russia has more to fear from the west than vice versa. Napoleon, Hitler etc.
@Peter McGlynn: the article is about present day Russia. Amazed you aren’t bringing in the Goths!
@Alan: are they the ones with all the black muck on them?
Putin, evil.
@Paddy Ryan: how long have you been waiting to type that?
@Ger Whelan: all day comrade.
@Paddy Ryan: The sad thing is I know you’re not joking
These were 50:year old riverine tankers that Russia were using to bring oil out of Rostov through the Kerch Straits. They were never designed for sea-going duties, and were an accident waiting to happen.
Large sea-going tankers can no longer navigate the Kerch Straits – under the Kerch bridge – and Russia transfers oil to these larger tankers in the Black Sea from these riverine tankers.
A 3rd riverine tanker broke up and sank in the same area the day after the two reported here.
Was this oil spill orchestrated by V. Putin? I thought there was sanctions on buying their oil? Why is Russia acting like a spoiled child looking for attention all the time?
@Tommy: Yes, it is well known that Putin hates cetaceans. His evil knows no bounds.
@Tommy: sanctions? in theory yes, but the Russians just selling it at a discount to the Saudis who are then selling it onto the west at market price.
@Niall English: Sure they are Niall.
@Ian: Google Saudi Arabia buying russian oil. All there in black and white no conspiracy theories. Fact is Saudi Arabia is one of Russia’s biggest oil customers. All you have to do is go look
@Ger Whelan: along with China, India, Hungary, turkey and others.
Dozens isn’t that many.
@P. V. Aglue: it’s dozens more than none.
Oil and water don’t mix,and we need both !
It’s a metaphor for the failed Russian state.
The dregs of humanity
Lock up the just stop oil protesters. That’ll sort it!
have your say