The Black Sea shouts "SOS!" Environmentalists demand a solution to the garbage crisis in Sochi

Ivan Zubov

October 31 is International Black Sea Day. On this day, the ECA movement calls on residents of all regions of Russia to pay attention to the threats to the ecosystems and inhabitants of the Black Sea that have arisen due to untimely garbage collection in Sochi.

According to the ECA, garbage is not removed from the city's container sites in Sochi on time. According to the regulations, in summer this must be done daily, and in winter at least once every three days. Photographs of eyewitnesses show a pile of tires, cardboard and other household waste accumulated at the site and not taken out on time.

Tropical showers pour down in Sochi several times a season. They carry a significant amount of large and small debris into the sea, polluting it with non-recyclable plastic and chemicals. As a result, the balance of the fragile ecosystems of the sea is disturbed, and its inhabitants suffer. Over the past three years, this problem has acquired the scale of an environmental disaster of federal significance.

Victor Melnikov, Candidate of Biological Sciences and Leading Researcher of the Federal Research Center named after A.O. Kovalevsky RAS, spoke aout the problem in more detail:

“In August 2021, I was the head of the 123rd expedition on the research vessel Professor Vodyanitsky. The flight took place in extreme conditions: a tropical storm began. Floods began in coastal cities, and tons of muddy water with garbage ended up in the open sea. An analysis of the data after the voyage showed that all this waste and the man-made fin did not go anywhere from the city of Sochi. On the contrary, all this accumulated in coastal anticyclonic gyres, which sucked in all this garbage. Because of this, when approaching Sochi, the water was like after the Japanese tsunami: a field of sticks, bottles, and fragments of packages. Further, we found that, ironically, it was in these zones that intensive spawning of fish and the development of their larvae took place. Garbage, of course, interferes with these processes. Therefore, before throwing a bag or a napkin on the shore, think about your children as well. How would they survive in such conditions?

“Many have heard of the garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. This problem may seem far away, but it has also appeared in our native Black Sea! Russian scientists have already discovered more than 400 garbage islands in it. They harm not only animals - the garbage drifts, and it can be washed ashore in a variety of places, including tourist ones. The authorities urgently need to arrange timely garbage collection from Sochi so that the number of islands does not grow and one of the most important recreational centers in Russia retains its face", - told Maria Malorossiyanova, the coordinator of the environmental protection direction of the Ecowiki.ru platform.

“As far as the eco-community knows, the tires are not taken out by a garbage company, but by another company. Therefore, they lie on the sites until they are taken out by this company", - says Anna Kudasheva, a resident of Sochi.