War in Ukraine causes a rise in dolphin deaths in the Black Sea

The number of dead dolphins in the Black Sea has increased, Dimitar Popov, who is participating in the project for the protection of cetaceans in Bulgaria with the non-governmental organization "Green Balkans" said for the BNR. This is happening not only in Bulgaria, but also in Romania, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia. The heightened noise pollution in the northern part of the Black Sea, caused by the war in Ukraine, is pushing the cetaceans south. The banished animals are stressed and exhausted.

Warship sonars create noise pollution and confuse cetaceans. Due to the acoustic trauma, they temporarily lose their hearing and echolocation. Cetaceans are the top predator in the Black Sea and the overall health of the ecosystem depends on them, Dimitar Popov pointed out.