Humans may not be the only casualties of the raging Russia-Ukraine war, but the conflict may have also killed dolphins and porpoises in the Black Sea.
According to a recent report by the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS), researchers noticed an "unusual increase" in the strands and bycatch - the term for animals accidentally caught by fisherfolks - of dolphins, whales, and porpoises in the spring and summer of 2022.
How the War May be Killing Dolphins
The entire Black Sea basin is in severe peril as a result of Russia's escalating conflict with Ukraine. The report states that military operations in coastal and marine areas could have an impact on the region's marine biota, particularly cetaceans.
Erich Hoyt, a research associate at the UK-based Whale and Dolphin Conservation, said that more than 700 deaths, predominantly in dolphins and harbor porpoises, have been reported on the beaches of seaside nations like Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, and Ukraine.
The ongoing battle and the threat presented by drifting mines make data collecting and boat surveys challenging for researchers who are attempting to identify the source of the observed deaths.
However, the loud noises connected with fighting may directly cause the rise in strandings and dolphins captured in bycatch.
According to Hoyt, dolphins and porpoises rely on sound to find their way, hunt for food, and communicate with one another.
"Noise from increased ship traffic can have some impact but the sounds of explosions at the surface or underwater could disorient, wound, or kill dolphins and porpoises within a few mile range or cause increased numbers of strandings or bycatch," Hoyt said in a statement with Insider.
Hoyt suggested that the noise disturbances might be confusing the dolphins and increasing the likelihood that they would either be stranded on shore or captured in a fisherman's net, even though experts are still trying to determine the causes of the increased mortality.
Endangered Key Habitats
Another contributing cause may be that the fighting is forcing the creatures out of the familiar Ukrainian waters and transporting them to new locations to hunt for food, where they may have a higher chance of becoming trapped on land or getting caught in a net.
According to experts, some dolphin and porpoise populations depend on the coastal regions near Ukraine, making the situation even worse.
The Crimean peninsula, the Kerch Strait, and the Sea of Azov are just a few of the regions in Ukraine that have historically been recognized as key habitats for these aquatic animals. However, these areas have been extremely battered since Russia's invasion in February.
Three species that are listed as vulnerable or endangered by the IUCN-the Black Sea common dolphin, the Black Sea harbor porpoise, and the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin-have these locations classified as key habitats.
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Written by Jace Dela Cruz
