Over 700 dolphins may have died in the Black Sea since Russia’s Ukraine invasion, report says

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has put the entire Black Sea basin under a “huge threat,” according to a report that said more than 700 dolphins and porpoises have died in the region since the conflict began.

The report, published recently by ACCOBAMS – or the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Contiguous Atlantic Area – warns that military activity in the area affects marine life forms in the region, including cetaceans such as dolphins and porpoises.

It said over 700 deaths, primarily in dolphins and harbour porpoises, have been recorded on the coasts of countries bordering the Black Sea, including Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

An earlier report by Ivan Rusev, research director at Ukraine’s Tuzla Estuaries National Nature Park, had also warned that the marine mammals were washing up on the coastline of the Black Sea.

Experts believe some of these increased dolphin strandings are a direct consequence of the loud noises caused by warfare.

Dr Rusev also posted images on Facebook in June showing dolphins washed up ashore with what he claimed were war-related injuries, including burn marks from bombs.

With these marine mammals relying heavily on sound to navigate and communicate with each other underwater, experts have cautioned that the noises from warfare could be disturbing for them and thus, disorient and prevent them from finding food.

“In addition to marine pollution, it is also known that intense ship noise and low-frequency sonars are a serious threat to marine species, especially dolphins using sound-activated ways,” the Turkish marine research foundation said in a statement in April, raising an alarm on the war’s effects on marine ecosystems in the area.

An international team of over 100 scientists estimated last year that there could be nearly a quarter of a million dolphins in the Black Sea.

It is, however, unknown how many of these remain in the region now.

Collecting more information on how many dolphins remain, and how these marine mammals are being affected by the conflict, has also been difficult due to mines in the region.

“All the experts in the Black Sea are trying to collect data and samples to find out the cause of these deaths in the Black Sea. Besides, in some areas, boat surveys have been difficult due to the potential danger posed by drifting mines,” the report noted.