Thirty-two dolphins have died since fuel oil spilled out of three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait, which separates the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula from Russia鈥檚 southern Krasnodar region, an animal rescue group said Sunday.
Russia鈥檚 Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Center said the deaths are 鈥渕ost likely related to the fuel oil spill.鈥�
The center said on the messaging app Telegram that a total of 61 dead cetaceans 鈥� an order of aquatic mammals that includes whales and dolphins 鈥� had been recorded since the emergency, but the condition of the bodies suggested that the 29 others had died before the spill.
鈥淛udging 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,鈥� the center wrote, noting that most of the dead dolphins were from the endangered Azov species.
Russia鈥檚 Emergencies Ministry said Sunday that over 96,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil had been removed by officials and volunteers along the shoreline of the Krasnodar region鈥檚 Anapa and Temryuk districts.
Russia-appointed officials in Moscow-occupied Crimea announced a regional emergency on Saturday after on the shores of Sevastopol, the peninsula鈥檚 largest city some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Kerch Strait.
On Dec. 23, the ministry estimated that up to 200,000 tons in total may have been contaminated with mazut, a heavy, low-quality oil product.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called the oil spill an 鈥渆cological disaster.鈥�
The Kerch Strait is an important global shipping route, providing passage from the inland Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
It has also been a key point of conflict between Russia and Ukraine after Moscow in 2014. In 2016, Ukraine took Moscow to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where it accused Russia of trying to seize control of the area illegally. In 2021, Russia closed the strait for several months.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy鈥檚 office, described the oil spill last month as a 鈥渓arge-scale environmental disaster鈥� and called for additional sanctions on Russian tankers.
The Associated Press
