Russia-Ukraine war kills over 120,000 Black Sea dolphins, researcher says
Briefing by News4U · First published
Russia’s war in Ukraine is devastating Black Sea marine life, Al Jazeera reports from Kyiv, with Ivan Rusev, head researcher at the Tuzly Lagoons national park in southern Ukraine, saying that by 2026 dolphin and harbour porpoise deaths exceeded 120,000 — about one in four cetaceans in the Black Sea — after some 50,000 died in 2022 alone. Explosions, cruise-missile launches and military sonar disrupt echolocation so animals cannot navigate or hunt, while chemicals from munitions and oil spills from damaged ships further poison the ecosystem; Rusev estimated recovery of cetacean populations could take 30 to 50 years. [1]
Sources
- Dead dolphins, naval mines: Russia-Ukraine war destroys the Black Sea
Al Jazeera · · Full text