Video: Tens of thousands of jellyfish have died in the Black Sea off the coast of Odesa Oblast
As of May 20, a mass die-off of jellyfish has been recorded in the Black Sea along the coast of the Odesa region. According to observations, moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) and horned jellyfish were found in the water. The cause of the phenomenon is attributed to changes in conditions in the coastal waters, specifically pollution and “oil slick,” though the exact factors are still being determined.
This was reported by Ivan Rusev, Ph.D. in Biology and head of the national park’s research department.
“Jellyfish in an oil emulsion. During a recent survey of the Black Sea coastal zone for oil pollution, in addition to the sea waters, vegetable oil was also washed up on various sections of the sandbar in the “Tuzly Estuaries,” including the national park’s protected zone,” the scientist stated.
According to him, the area of the sandbar contaminated with vegetable oil in the national park, based on a visual assessment, exceeded 10 hectares. Oil-contaminated algae, shells, and jellyfish were also washed up on the beaches and the sandbar in general. In particular, in the shallow waters of the coastal zone within the park, researchers found tens of thousands of moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) and horned jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) in the “oil soup,” Rusev noted.
“Based on data from surveys of many coastal areas where dead jellyfish were found, we can estimate the scale of jellyfish mortality due to oil within the marine waters of the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park at tens of tons,” the scientist emphasized.
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