This was stated by the head of the Center for the Study, Rescue and Rehabilitation of Marine Mammals "Carefree Sea" Anastasia Korosteleva to the occupation publication RIA Novosti.

"Since April 2017, we have recorded 998 cases of dead dolphins on the Crimean coast. Another 46 marine mammals have been beached alive. In the six months since the beginning of 2019, 338 animals, including living ones, have been found. If to compare with foreign data, and in Europe and the USA various organizations register on the average on 3-4 "live" beached dolphins a year and about 200 - dead, the scale is simply colossal", - said the head of the Center.

According to her, the main causes of death are diseases, including those that develop due to marine pollution, and death in fishing nets. She also noted that the weakening of the immune system with warming water and increasing stressors due to human activities - pollution, noise, general anthropogenic load - all this also affects the mortality of dolphins.

"Most often in dead dolphins we observe pneumonia of various origins, diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys and liver, gastritis, helminth infestation. Emissions of seriously ill animals are usually recorded mainly in spring and summer. Mostly young animals. We find cubs and adolescents with serious diseases more often than adults, and this is especially true of Azov cubs", - Korosteleva explained.

What is known

• On July 13, dolphin cubs with stab wounds were found on the coasts of occupied Crimea. This is not the first time that local volunteers have discovered such cases, and each time they coincide with the fishing season.
• Last year, scientists announced a sharp decline in the population of dolphins in the Black Sea.
• July 23 - World Whale and Dolphin Day. It has been celebrated since 1986, after the International Whaling Commission (IWC) imposed a ban on whaling. On this day, there are various events aimed at drawing attention to the problems of marine mammals and the general threat of pollution of the seas and oceans.
• Black Sea dolphins (harbour porpoises, short-beaked common dolphins and bottlenose dolphins) are listed in the Red Book.