At least 32 dolphins have died from a fuel oil spill in Russia's Black Sea since Dec. 15, a local animal rescue group reported Sunday.
The Delfa Dolphin Rescue and Research Center said it had found 61 dead cetaceans since an emergency was declared, with 32 killed "likely due to the fuel oil spill" and the rest believed to be linked to older incidents. A regional emergency regime was declared in the region on Saturday.
It said most deaths occurred within 10 days of the disaster, primarily affecting vulnerable Azov dolphins.
"For this period of time (outside the release season) such a number of deaths is an atypically large figure," the center said on Telegram.
The group warned of potential increases in injured dolphins in the coming months and announced plans to establish a hospital for long-term care.
"This is critically important, as it will be impossible to provide assistance to dolphins directly in shallow waters in oil-contaminated areas," the center said.
Separately, Russia's Emergency Ministry reported removing over 12,000 tons of contaminated sand and soil from 34 kilometers (21 miles) of coastline in Krasnodar Krai following a tanker collision in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov between Russia and occupied Crimea.
