Mass death of dolphins in the Black Sea: what is happening in general? Scientists considered the mass death of dolphins in the Black Sea a threat to the population. Corpses on the beach

About 11 dead dolphins were found on the coast of Yevpatoriya, in the area of ​​the Simferopol-Yevpatoria highway and in the area of ​​the Morskoye village.

The exact causes of the incident are still unknown. This could be due to human intervention, but scientists do not exclude that the dolphins themselves washed ashore. According to them, when the leader is injured, he is thrown ashore and the whole flock follows him. In this way animals become victims of their social structure.

It is noted that the distance between the dead dolphins is several hundred meters. It is also likely that a storm could have caused the mass death of animals, one of the reasons for the death of dolphins could be some kind of epidemic, because dolphins, especially Azov dolphins, are very sensitive to both the environment and diseases.

Dead dolphins are regularly found on the beaches of the Black and Azov seas, but there are so many in 2017 that it attracted increased public attention - zoologists and ordinary vacationers found a total of 428 dolphins. Dolphin emissions traditionally peak for spring and summer,a large number of dead dolphins were found near Sevastopol.

Assumptions are made. what the death of dolphins is associated with the negative impact of sonars and acoustic equipment, installed on ships in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk, as well as pollution of the water area, infection of dolphins with helminths.

Early this year 4 dead bottlenose dolphins, 4 azovs and 2 white barrels were found on the shore. One dolphin was found in the Sudak region, 3 in Feodosiya, 1 in Yalta, 4 in the Sevastopol region and 1 near Evpatoria. The bottlenose dolphin showed signs of falling into fishing gear - the tail fin was cut off. Two more dolphins were noted to have serious signs of exhaustion they probably died as a result of the disease. The rest of the bodies were at the stage of decomposition, which made it impossible to visually determine the possible cause of death. Most of the animals found were adults, there were no cubs among them. Experts suggest that a sharp jump in dolphin deaths with subsequent peak values ​​is expected in late March - early April and until the end of July.

Among the causes of death of dolphins are deaths in nets, viruses, diseases, severe storms. and starvation. For example, white-barreled dolphins in Balaklava in In search of food, they swim very close to the shore and even beg for food from people.

And in 2018, the unthinkable happened. –there was no annual seasonal fish migration during the winter and spring months for which the dolphins come. The animals had to starve.

The health of dolphins is also badly affected by the state of the sea - in the subcutaneous fat of dead dolphins, a high concentration of pesticides eaten with fish is found. Toxins have a particularly strong effect on the body during weight loss of a mammal, and there is pesticide poisoning of dolphins.

Marine biologists do not exclude the presence of other reasons that have yet to be clarified. Now biologists are collecting signatures so that their initiative on the prohibition of the use of flounder and katra nets, not visible to dolphins, has been considered at the state level.

Three species of dolphins live in the Black and Azov Seas - bottlenose dolphins, white flanks and azovs. The Red Book of Russia states: " Number of bottlenose dolphins in the Black Sea sharply reduced, which is especially noticeable compared to the pre-war period, when dolphins of all kinds in the sea were about 0.5–1 million head . By May 1977 year, according to aerial records, the total number of dolphins reached 140 thousand, of which 36 thousand bottlenose dolphins. Conducted ten years later, route accounting from ships showed a decrease the number of all dolphins is up to 113 thousand, and bottlenose dolphins - up to 7 thousand, i.e. more than five times .

In Russia, the ban on fishing for dolphins in the Black Sea has been in effect since 1966, all Black Sea countries have stopped fishing, the last one refused to catch dolphins Turkey in 1983. Unfortunately, after the ban on dolphin fishing, the dolphin population in the Black Sea did not stop declining.

How many dolphins live in the Black and Azov Seas, no one knows for sure. The fact is that systematic monitoring of the population is not carried out, and expert assessment gives a rather large spread - the data varies from several thousand up to 140 thousand individuals. Oddly enough, we know quite a bit about how the Black Sea dolphins use the water area, what their migration routes are and whether they exist at all - according to some reports, there are several sedentary groups of dolphins. These questions require research.

All three species of our dolphins are listed in the Red Book of Russia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, and the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It is difficult to say why we know so little about the state of the dolphin population. Perhaps because they were not of interest to the fishery and only scientists were interested in their biology. Unfortunately, the capabilities of scientific organizations are usually limited, and to conduct a large-scale census of the dolphin population, systematic observation is needed, it is necessary every year, preferably at the same time, to observe the behavior of dolphins in the sea, several aircraft, ships and, most importantly, , experienced specialists who are able to identify animals from the air or from the surface of the water and count them, which is very difficult. All this is quite problematic from the point of view of the organization.

❗Attention! Witnesses to the death or misconduct against dolphins should contact Rosprirodnadzor at 8-978-905-88-44.

In order to remove the corpse of a dolphin thrown ashore, you should call to the hotline 1563 Unified City Duty Dispatch Service.

❗In case of finding a dead or live dolphin on the shore in the Crimea, please report by numbers:
+79780326852
+79164090148

Not so long ago, a large number of dead dolphins were recorded in Novorossiysk, and now the carcasses of dead mammals have begun to appear in Abkhazia.

Over the past month, four cases of dolphin deaths were recorded in Abkhazia. Why dolphins die in the Black Sea, Sputnik correspondent Vladimir Begunov was told by Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Ecology and Nature Protection of Abkhazia Murman Solomko and Director of the Institute of Ecology of the Academy of Sciences Roman Dbar.

According to the chairman of the State Committee for Ecology and Nature Protection of Abkhazia, this year the experts managed only one dolphin. The bodies of other mammals were not found.

Apparently they were carried away by the sea, the newspaper writes.

The only dead dolphin that was still able to be examined was without physical injuries. According to Solomko, it was a baby dolphin that died of a broken heart, clinging to a fishing net.

Cases of mass death of marine mammals, according to Murman Solomko, are due to the fact that dolphins lose their orientation in space during storms, they get motion sick, and they are washed ashore, believing that they are swimming towards the sea, Sputnik writes.

According to the director of the Institute of Ecology of the Academy of Sciences of Abkhazia, the mass death of dolphins in Novorossiysk is connected with the navy.

Nothing but the Navy can cause so many dolphin deaths, Sputnik quoted Roman Dbar as saying. - The military on ships and submarines use powerful ultrasonic equipment, from which dolphins literally go crazy and are thrown ashore, not understanding anything.

According to the scientist, many mammals die because of fishing nets. Entangled in nets, they lose the ability to breathe air and die.

These dolphins are easy to identify because they have a cut fin on their backs, says Dbar.

The fact is that fishermen, when they see a dead dolphin in the nets, do not waste time on extricating the dolphin. They simply cut off the fin and throw the carcass into the sea.

According to the scientist, of the three species of Black Sea dolphins, the Azovka most often gets into the net. The common dolphin gets entangled in the nets extremely rarely, the bottlenose dolphin almost never.

- Firstly, these two species are found at great depths, and secondly, and this is the main thing, the common dolphin and bottlenose dolphin have a different level and frequency of the echolocation signal, they can recognize nets, but the coastal azovka cannot.

Previously "Live Kuban" that almost 70 dolphins died in Novorossiysk from April to May. All carcasses were found within the boundaries of the city of Novorossiysk. On this fact, the Azovo-Chernomorsky Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor's Office organized an audit. However, there are still no official versions. The exact causes of the death of mammals have not yet been established.

Cases of the death of dolphins, which are considered one of the most intelligent mammals on Earth, were regularly recorded at the end of this spring and summer. Animals were found almost along the entire coast of the Krasnodar Territory, but most often this happened in large coastal cities, where the corpse of a dolphin cannot remain unnoticed by anyone. Social media messages play an important role in disseminating information about such finds, even if not all of their authors are concerned about the fate of the dolphins themselves. For example, recently one of the residents of Anapa complained that children receive "psychological trauma" at the sight of carcasses floating in the water. He complained that local services were in no hurry to clean them up.

Corpses on the beach

Some tried to explain what was happening with natural factors. Like, this is observed every year and natural selection is to blame, as a result of which unborn females, aging and sick dolphins often die. This happens, but it certainly cannot explain all the deaths of animals this year. It is no coincidence that at the beginning of May the Azovo-Chernomorsk interdistrict environmental prosecutor's office began an inspection. The official statement from the department said that the reason for it was the discovery in the Novorossiysk region of 68 dead dolphins in just one month.

Based on rumors and some news, someone could well decide that animal corpses were found almost dozens at a time. You can also think that they themselves washed ashore, as sometimes happens with marine mammals.

“You need to understand that there were no mass cases of death of dolphins,” says Azovo-Chernomorsky Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor Maxim Cherny. - That is, twenty dead animals were not found anywhere at once. Basically, no more than one or two corpses were washed ashore in one place. But even in such cases, it was found that the death of animals occurred at sea at different times, and after it they were in the water from one to six weeks.

There is no exact answer

As part of the prosecutor's check, a whole range of control and supervisory measures was carried out aimed at clarifying the causes of what was happening. It included laboratory studies, including sanitary and epidemiological testing of the quality of sea water. Her condition needed to be clarified first of all in order to exclude a possible danger to people.

“Rospotrebnadzor employees took and thoroughly examined about a thousand samples,” Maxim Cherny continues. - As a result, they confirmed the full compliance of sea water quality with established standards. The main and main thing is that there is no threat to humans. Minor excesses of suspended particles were recorded only in places such as ports, which in principle are not intended for recreation and swimming.

A more difficult task was the study of the remains of animals. The fact is that basically dolphins were washed ashore already in a state of strong decomposition, and they were not suitable for research. The few remains that were suitable for this were placed in freezers and quickly delivered to a specialized veterinary facility. As a result, experts studied the condition of the bodies of five animals, on the basis of which certain conclusions were drawn.

In the Kuban, mainly Azov dolphins die - this type of dolphin is highly susceptible to infectious diseases. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

It's time to act

Many dead animals are found this year on the coast of the Crimean peninsula. There, a team of like-minded people called Serene Sea is very actively dealing with this problem. This is a group of scientists, ecologists and people who are simply in love with the sea, studying different aspects of the life of dolphins. And they consider their main task to be their protection, since this topic has remained relevant for several decades.

“All three species of Black Sea dolphins are in the Red Book, and two of them are under the threat of complete extinction,” says Serene Sea participant, biologist and member of the Marine Mammal Council Irina Logominova. - At the same time, no one has up-to-date information about their number. Accounting is not kept and everyone calls different numbers - whoever wants to. But what is clear is that the negative impact on these animals is increasing. This year we are receiving more reports of dead dolphins than in the past. There are real concerns about their survival."

An illustrative example is the white barrel. According to Irina Logominova, a hundred years ago, the Black Sea was considered the world record holder in terms of the number of individuals of this species of dolphins. Their account went into the millions. Today, there are only a few thousand white flanks left. At the same time, they are increasingly seen near the coast, although these animals by nature prefer the open sea. It can be assumed that they are forced to do this due to a decrease in the number of fish. Although the common dolphin is still in a better position than Azov and bottlenose dolphins.

Irina Logominova believes that a whole range of measures is urgently needed, including changing the rules of fishing, modernizing treatment facilities, and introducing serious restrictions on human activities in the local habitats of dolphins. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

In the Crimea, as well as in the Kuban, now mainly Azovs are dying. This species of dolphins is very susceptible to infectious diseases, the most dangerous of which is the cetacean morbillivirus. Perhaps it was he who was found in those two animals, which are mentioned above. In some years, entire epidemics occurred, due to which thousands of individuals died. But in any case, it must be recognized that even this is the result of human activity.

“Morbillivirus arose as a result of a mutation of the measles and rinderpest virus,” continues Irina Logominova. - And all this penetrated into the Black Sea due to its pollution with sewage. In all dolphins, this virus is present in the blood, and when the body is weakened, the disease develops. From it, animals die very quickly and in terrible agony. The organism can overcome the infection only if it is healthy, which also largely depends on the environment.”

According to the Crimean biologist, many dolphins are dying due to fishing. Most often, animals simply get entangled in nets and drown. At the same time, the situation has noticeably worsened recently due to easier conditions for obtaining fishing quotas and other permits. The military and tourists also play a negative role. Irina Logominova believes that a whole range of measures is urgently needed, including changing the rules of fishing, modernizing treatment facilities, and introducing serious restrictions on human activities in the local habitats of dolphins. And without all this, no one will guarantee that in a few decades it will still be possible to see a live dolphin in the Black Sea.

Wounds on the bodies of dolphins found near Novorossiysk, and mistaken for gunshot wounds, could have been left by seagulls, according to the environmental prosecutor's office. Department specialists are waiting for the results of the tests, putting forward three versions of the mass death of dolphins, including diseases. The zoologist Konstantin Andramonov, who complained about the lack of scientific research on dolphins, is inclined to the version of an unexplored viral infection.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 3, the environmental prosecutor's office reported the discovery of 68 dead dolphins in the Black Sea within the borders of Novorossiysk. The media also reported that residents of Novorossiysk found dead dolphins with gunshot wounds, but the prosecutor's office called this information untrue. As of May 15, since the beginning of April, the number of dead dolphins was about 90 individuals. Experts are developing several versions of the death of animals, including water pollution.

Prosecutors are waiting for the results of biochemical tests

The study of six bodies of dead dolphins continues, the samples taken have been sent to Moscow specialized institutions. The results of biochemical analyzes are being made for about a month, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told today in the press service of the Azovo-Chernomorsky Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor's Office.

The version that some of the dolphins died from gunshot wounds was not confirmed, confirmed prosecutor's office. According to him, it was found that the wounds on the body of the dead animals, mistaken for gunshot wounds, were left by seagulls that feed on carrion.

Now the prosecutor's office is considering three versions of the mass death of dolphins - these are diseases, pollution of sea water with sewage, as well as the impact of sonars and other devices of the Novorossiysk seaport.

There is no version of poisoning with oil products, since no traces of them were found on the bodies of the dead animals. So far, it has been possible to accurately determine the cause of death of one of the animals, which died from pulmonary edema and intoxication with waste products, the Azov-Black Sea Environmental Prosecutor's Office reported on May 15.

The zoologist said the need for detailed scientific research on dolphins

A zoologist, a member of the Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus, a former employee of the Gelendzhik Dolphinarium, considers the situation unusual in terms of the number of dead dolphins Konstantin Andramonov, who said that he would not remember such a mass death of dolphins in the Black Sea before.

At the same time, the zoologist does not believe in the version of pollution of the water area. "I believe that this does not hold water, the same bottlenose dolphins live in dolphinariums in much worse conditions, 200 times more polluted water than in the natural environment," Konstantin Andramonov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In his opinion, helminths remain the main version of the death of dolphins. "This is the strongest infection, because of these diseases, normal life is disturbed, orientation in space is disturbed," the zoologist said.

At the same time, he criticized the version that the construction of the Kerch bridge influenced the death of animals, since, Andramonov is sure, dolphins can migrate away from adverse conditions.

Earlier it was reported that environmentalists accused the builders of the bridge across the Kerch Strait of destroying Cape Tuzla. According to the "Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus", deforestation on the cape, storage of materials, construction work have led to the collapse of the ecosystem and a negative impact not only on migratory birds, but also on dolphins.

Does not stand up to criticism, according to the zoologist, and the voiced version that at the bottom of the Black Sea since the First World War, barrels with a poisonous substance that can be released into the water have been stored. Also, Andramonov does not believe in the version about the impact on dolphins of the special equipment of the services of the Novorossiysk seaport. “They simply don’t have enough transmitter power to lead to the death of dolphins. Only diseases that are well studied remain. Perhaps a new viral infection has appeared,” the expert noted.

In his opinion, the investigation of the fact of the mass death of animals by the prosecutor's office is not enough, he notes that detailed scientific research is needed in this situation. "It is necessary to establish the cause of the outbreak. Perhaps it is from the food supply: plankton, mollusks, fish, then dolphins - that is, somewhere along the way there was some source of infection," Andramonov notes.

version of the Black Sea pollution is actively lobbied by the owners of dolphinariums

He believes that the owners of dolphinariums are actively lobbying for the Black Sea pollution version. "The sea is polluted, and they [claim] to save dolphins by capturing them. They capture for scientific research, for educational purposes, and use them commercially," the zoologist said.

According to him, the administrative license for catching animals states that in five years the dolphins should be released into the wild. "In fact, all this is not carried out. They ( owners of dolphinariums) say that they are born more and more dolphins in an artificial habitat. And in fact, they are periodically caught. There are special firms that make documents for them," Andramonov said.

animal rights activists are now fighting for the introduction of genetic certification of marine mammals that are in dolphinariums

According to him, animal rights activists are now fighting for the introduction of genetic certification of marine mammals that are in dolphinariums, in order to establish where the dolphin was born - in the natural environment or in captivity. "Now it is impossible to know," - said the expert.

According to him, on dolphins "a very large lobby." He mentioned information that it is planned to open a dolphinarium in Grozny. The fact that a dolphinarium is being built in Grozny was reported on May 6 by the Grozny television company.

"There's a lot of money there. It turns out that for captive-born [dolphins], the law is relaxed, they become the private property of the dolphinarium," the expert said. According to him, not a single dolphin caught for the dolphinarium has been returned to the natural environment. "For 25 years, all these organizations have been violating the orders of the Ministry of Natural Resources, and they all continue to issue fishing permits," Andramonov said.

At the same time, he noted that all animals kept in dolphinariums suffer from intestinal dysbacteriosis, since chlorine is used to purify water. “In the Gelendzhik Dolphinarium, where I worked, the water is so dirty that they have constant dysbacteriosis, and it is jammed with antibiotics. Chlorine burns everything, all intestinal microflora,” the zoologist said.

According to him, three species of dolphins live in the Black Sea: bottlenose dolphin, common dolphin and azovka, all of them are classified as rare species. At the same time, there are no exact data on the population of dolphins in the Black Sea, Andramonov notes, only aerial surveys are conducted, which cannot show the real number. The approximate number of bottlenose dolphins, according to the expert, is about 30 thousand individuals.