Almost All Seafloor Life in Part of Russia's Kamchatka Region Wiped Out in 'Environmental Disaster'

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Almost All Seafloor Life in Part of Russia’s Kamchatka Region Wiped Out in ‘Environmental Disaster’​

The carcasses of sea creatures have washed up on the beaches of Kamchatka in eastern Russia, amid an unexpected mass death of marine animals that has been labeled an “environmental disaster” by one underwater photographer at the scene.

Images posted on social media appear to show dead octopuses, crabs and seals in the normally pristine remote Russian region on the Pacific Ocean coast.

Those who frequent the beaches in the area have also complained of getting fever, rashes and swollen eyelids after going in the water. According to reports, the water changed color, acquired a strange smell and began to foam on the surface.
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Huge disaster if one has not heard about this. Roughly, this happened in extremely Eastern Russia on the Pacific.

More coverage:

Russia launches criminal investigation into unexplained sea pollution in Kamchatka peninsula​

By Euronews •

Russia has opened a criminal investigation into unexplained toxic marine pollution off its far eastern coast.

Whole populations of sea life have been wiped out in the region’s waters with carcasses washing up on the shores of the Kamchatka peninsula.

Local surfers and divers have also reported health issues with their eyes and throat after entering the water.
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Are any of these photos or any more evidence posted anywhere else. Australia has a few reports on it atm.
 
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This is worth following. I guess it is too soon to know what happened.
 
I read one report of a surfer getting chemical burns, so if there truth to this, it has affected people too.


In water samples, experts found an excess for oil products by 4 times, as well as 2.5 times for phenol and other substances,” Greenpeace Russia said on social media.

“As a result of pollution, people have suffered and a large number of marine life have died. The unique nature of Kamchatka is under threat!”

A Greenpeace team is at the beach collecting samples, though the organisation noted the scale and cause of the disaster are yet to be established.

Greenpeace has also started a petition calling on the Russian government to revise its “economic developments and and adopt a Green Deal”, to prevent catastrophes such as what has occurred at Kamchatka.

More than 70,000 people have signed the petition.

Looks like it is some sort of oil byproduct/production spill
 
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Are there oil/gas production facilities near there? What sorts of industries are there?
 
Not sure Annie, Greenpeace should have more info now, also with the petition going, there should be more local info coming out, as with the Ops links. A lot of it is still in Russian though.
My guess is industry rather then government responsibility for the spill or illegal flushing into the sea, unless a sub or tanker accident.

Unverified info is leaking out through the Australian surfing circuit community as with the global community.


It can be an adrenalin rush type destination, brings in the surfing tourism dollars.

Where does an Aussie surfer want to go, lol, surf in the snow in Siberia. It would be a beautiful place though.
 
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One of the articles discusses this issue. A pesticide plant is nearby but over all, not that much is around there. I don’t believe I heard of oil rigs directly in this area. When I first heard about this yesterday, they were saying “jet fuel”. So, it sounds like something other than a bad oil well leaking this or even an oil tanker… we will see.
 
umamibella said:
Where does an Aussie surfer want to go, lol, surf in the snow in Siberia.
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Is it like snowboarding? Surely not water-surfing in Siberia in the winter? (Surely not even Aussies are that crazy?!?)

Interesting, altho it seems like a long and difficult way to go to be able to dump illegally!
 
Annie said:
Is it like snowboarding? Surely not water-surfing in Siberia in the winter? (Surely not even Aussies are that crazy?!?)
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No they actually go into the water and surf, They have to go out past the ice if winter, and there is not so much in summer, Aussies are pretty crazy at times. I have family who surf, they dont even care about sharks. I dont surf, I hate sharks, and all those stinging nasty poisonous jelly fish.

There are some wild and remote surf tourism destinations around the planet.
 
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Wow!

Different strokes, that’s for sure. But I will say that even US surfers are a little more out there than the rest of us!
 
Annie said:
Ah, maybe an airplane had to dump a lot of fuel? I have heard of this, I think?
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It usually all disperses before reaching the ground or sea, assuming the aircraft is above 6000 ft give or take.
 
Oh, that explains why even tho I had heard of its happening, I hadn’t heard of people having a bunch of jet fuel land on them or their car.
 
The Moscow Times is a good source, English language and largely independent (do your own research), they are running this article.

Could a Lethal Algae Bloom Have Killed Kamchatka’s Sea Creatures? Some Marine Biologists Think So.​

Whatever the cause, the response to the disaster shows public outrage can force the Russian authorities’ hand when it comes to ecological questions.

Around the same time as an unexplained event wiped out 95% of sea-dwelling life off the coast of Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka peninsula earlier this month, a yellow foam covered an area of water so large it could be seen from space.

That’s the clue prompting some of Russia’s leading marine biologists to blame the catastrophe on a harmful algae bloom — a rapid growth of naturally occurring algae that can produce toxins lethal for marine life and even humans.
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I hope they are not making excuses but this sounds possible. It seems they don’t have an outright culprit at this stage.
 
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Victoria33 said:
I hope they are not making excuses but this sounds possible. It seems they don’t have an outright culprit at this stage.
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Well, increase of algae blooms is also related to manmade climate change, but it would be better than a toxic spill.

Such a shame. I would love to visit Vladivostok and swim in the ocean (yep yep, followed by a hot bath).
 
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Annie said:
Oh, that explains why even tho I had heard of its happening, I hadn’t heard of people having a bunch of jet fuel land on them or their car.
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Well I’d rather have jet fuel land on my car than blue ice! “Blue ice” in an aviation context is when a lavatory holding tank leaks; the, umm, liquid, accumulates on the fuselage and freezes at the altitudes aircraft typically fly at. Then when it approaches to land in warmer temperatures, a chunk falls off. It’s been known to crash through roofs. The “blue” comes from the colour of the disinfectant.


A good way to ruin a dinner! I haven’t heard of any incidents recently, I suspect newer aircraft have better systems that are sealed.

Back to fuel dumping most people think it’s to avoid a fire or explosion during an emergency landing, but that’s not the case. It’s to reduce the aircraft’s weight. Long range aircraft can typically take off at much higher weights than they can land at. So if a flight has to return to origin or land well before destination, fuel has to be dumped to reduce the weight in order to land safely. Normally the fuel would be burned en route. Shorter-range aircraft typically can’t dump fuel as their max landing weight is much closer to their max takeoff weight, as they carry much less fuel. In some cases though they will circle for a while to burn off excess fuel to reduce weight.

Aviation trivia of the day.

A good landing is one you can walk away from. A great landing, you can walk away from and can use the aircraft again, 🤣
 
Annie said:
Different strokes, that’s for sure. But I will say that even US surfers are a little more out there than the rest of us!
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Yes, the stories of some of the surfing challenges they undertake in Hawaii!
 
Victoria33 said:
I hope they are not making excuses but this sounds possible. It seems they don’t have an outright culprit at this stage.
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Given the levels of chemical that Greenpeace testing is throwing up, I would say that is just a smoke screen
 
OraLabora said:
Back to fuel dumping
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That was really interesting! You seem to know a lot about planes!

I’m trying to figure out… blue ice making a convertible out of my car or jet fuel destroying the paint job?
 
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Annie said:
That was really interesting! You seem to know a lot about planes!
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Lifelong aviation fanatic and private pilot! Sold my plane 3 years ago though. Forced early retirement meant some tough choices. Fortunately I have other passions, cycling being the biggest one these days.
 
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