Nearly 40 dead dolphins wash ashore in Odesa Oblast as Russian ecocide continues
Dead dolphins at the Black Sea shore (Photo: Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park)
Nearly 40 dead dolphins have washed ashore in Odesa Oblast due to the devastating environmental impact of Russian naval aggression in the Black Sea, researchers from the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park wrote on June 9.
Just a day after reporting 22 dead dolphins along a 25-kilometer stretch of the park's coastline, experts discovered more casualties of the war. During a survey of another 13 kilometers of the beach zone, the bodies of 15 more cetaceans were found. The total number of victims discovered over just a few days has become unprecedented.
Ivan Rusev, a research fellow at the national park, emphasized that the tragedy is solely caused by Russian aggression. The Black Sea has turned into a zone of man-made environmental disaster, where constant mine explosions, missile attacks, and the use of powerful sonars by Russian warships intersect to create a synergistic wave of destruction.
The northwestern part of the sea, where the Tuzly Estuaries are located, has found itself at the epicenter of this pressure. The constant acoustic and physical impact undermines the dolphins' immune systems, depriving them of their ability to navigate and survive. This is no longer just the aftermath of combat clashes, but a prolonged ecocide that is actively destroying the genetic potential of the populations.
The park's specialists continue to document every single case for future international tribunals. They are actively assisted in this work by border guards — particularly Ilya Chudo, head of the Prymorsk branch of the 26th detachment — whose support allows for the rapid collection of evidence of these crimes against nature.
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