On July 29, three dead dolphins were found on the coast of the Odessa region. Scientists estimate that about 5,000 mammals died in the Black Sea since February 24. This was reported by ecologist Doctor of Biological Sciences Ivan Rusev, Suspilne reports.
A bottlenose dolphin and a white-beaked dolphin washed up on the coast of the National Natural Park "Tuzly Estuaries", and another white-beaked dolphin washed up on the beach of Odesa.
As the ecologist said earlier, mammals suffer from the sonar devices that Russian ships are equipped with.
Since the beginning of the war, 32 dead dolphins have already been found in part of the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park territory. According to scientists' calculations, since February 24, about 5,000 dolphins have died in the Black Sea.
"We take into account the dolphins we find on the territory of the National Natural Park, and we also receive information from our colleagues from Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania. We take the lowest figure of 5,000 because the sea discards two to five percent of dolphins that die at sea. We count dolphins that have been washed up on the coast of the Black Sea, and there are almost two thousand of them. That is, if we take two or five percent, it will be much more than 5,000," said Ivan Rusev.
Also, according to him, the total number of dead dolphins may be higher because a very small part of the coast is being investigated. It also affects the fact that the dolphin can be washed back into the sea before it is detected, or predators can steal it.
