Figure of the day: at least 1,000 dolphins have died in the Black Sea in 1.5 years

The American edition of The New York Times reports, with reference to the words of the Minister of the Environment and Environmental Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strelts, that after the start of its Ukraine has sharply increased mortality among dolphins of the Black Sea: they die off the coast of Ukraine, Bulgaria and Turkey, and for sure, in the open sea, but how many of them are there is not known for sure.

The reasons are simple: mines, explosions, rocket launches, low flights of military aircraft, as well as the widespread use of sonar by warships, which can deprive dolphins of the ability to navigate in space. And besides, of course, the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam, which caused a sharp increase in the concentration of heavy metals, pesticides, phosphorus and nitrogen in seawater. Their pollution of the Black Sea has led to an increase in the blooming of toxic algae.

Earlier, Ukrainian animal defenders talked about 50 thousand dead dolphins, but this figure is highly doubtful among scientists.

On the other hand, Kuban scientists announced that in 2023 about 180 mammals were thrown onto the shores of the Krasnodar Territory, which is one third less than in 2022, when a significant increase in dolphin deaths in this region of the Black Sea was recorded — about 600 individuals, TASS reports.

Thus, the total figure will be much higher and will amount to slightly less than 2,000 dead dolphins during the SVO.