In a heartbreaking scene, some 32 dolphins have washed up on a beach near Russia.
The cause for this tragedy was down to a major oil spill with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it an “ecological disaster”.
The disaster was due to two tankers which spilled out fuel oil 155 miles from Sevastopol on the southwest occupied Crimean Peninsula three weeks ago
Officials have been desperately attempting to clean the beach which is contaminated with the heavy oil.
Due to this major contamination, the dolphins have sadly died with Russia’s Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Centre declaring their deaths as “most likely related to the fuel oil spill.”
Kerch Strait waterway was where this oil spill took place, a region that separates the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia’s southern Krasnodar region.
Although yet confirmed, two Russian Project 1577 Volgoneft oil tankers were caught in a storm south of the Kerch Strait on the morning of December 15.
The two vessels were carrying around 4,900 tonnes of a low-grade heavy oil product, with both of them sinking in the water.
The Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Centre noted a total of 61 dead aquatic mammals had washed up the beach, according to their messaging on the app, Telegram.
The death toll among both dolphins and whales could have been from a previous event, they added.
The team also noted that the majority of the dead dolphins were from the endangered Azov species.
They wrote: “Judging by the condition of the bodies, most likely the majority of these cetaceans died in the first 10 days after the disaster. And now the sea continues to wash them up.”
A regional emergency was announced on January 3 from Moscow-appointed officials in Russian-occupied Crimea.
By January 4, Russia’s emergency ministry officials and volunteers removed a whopping 96,000 tons of contaminated soil and sand from the shoreline.
This massive clean up took place in the Krasnodar region’s Anapa and Temryuk districts.
It was previously estimated that up to 200,000 tons of contamination was present which included a low-grade heavy oil product known as mazut.
Sevastopol is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea.
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