Dead dolphins found in Odessa: an environmentalist explains the possible causes
Environmentalists have documented cases of dolphin deaths along the Odessa coast and within the national park. The bodies of four cetaceans have been found, as well as individual dolphins on city beaches. Experts attribute the increase in such incidents to the consequences of Russia’s war in the Black Sea, particularly military activity and its impact on the marine ecosystem.
This was reported by Ivan Rusev, an ecologist and employee of the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park.
According to Ivan Rusev, the bodies of dolphins known as white-beaked dolphins and Azov dolphins have washed ashore on the Black Sea coast in Odesa. In addition, experts have observed atypical behavior in the dolphins, which they attribute to the possibility that the animals may have suffered concussions due to the war.
“May 2026 has once again become one of the most intense months in terms of the number of weapons used. Russian forces carried out chaotic drone strikes interspersed with missile attacks, including the launch of Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea, as well as Shahed-type UAVs and ballistic missiles.“In total, over these days, the enemy deployed more than 1,500 attack drones and dozens of missiles across Ukraine, a significant portion of which targeted coastal regions and logistics hubs,” the ecologist said.
Ivan Rusev also noted that the mammals could have died from bombs or mines in the Russian-occupied waters of the Black Sea off the coasts of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions and Crimea. Another possible cause of the dolphins’ deaths could be their presence in the Black Sea near Russian ports, from where the current carried them to the shores of the national park in Odesa.
The expert does not rule out the possibility that the animals may have been poisoned by petroleum products. “We observed a similar phenomenon last year when the sea washed a dead bottlenose dolphin, contaminated with oil, into the national park from nearly 700 kilometers away. By the way, about 40 cetacean carcasses have also been found recently on the Black Sea coast of Georgia,” explained Ivan Rusev.
The ecologist also emphasized that the waters of the Sea of Azov are also polluted due to Russia. “An environmental disaster is unfolding in the Sea of Azov due to critical pollution from petroleum products, chemical compounds, fuel oil, and sewage, which the occupiers are dumping en masse into the waters,” he noted.
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