Nine cetaceans and over 300 shearwaters have been found dead in the area of Shabla and Durankulak – expert necropsies are to follow.
Yesterday, the team of the Wildlife Rescue Center of ‘Green Balkans’ was mobilized following an extremely alarming report of mass mortality among protected species along the Northern Black Sea coast. The findings from the field inspection in the area from Shabla Tuzla to Durankulak are shocking – the bodies of 9 marine mammals from the three Black Sea species - the harbor porpoise, the common dolphin, and the bottlenose dolphin - and over 300 Mediterranean shearwaters have been discovered.
Late last night, our team returned, transporting some of the deceased animals. The scale of the findings gives serious grounds to suspect a major environmental incident, the causes of which are yet to be determined.
Specialists from the Rescue Center are about to begin a series of necropsies and analyses to determine the cause of death of such a large number of marine mammals and birds in a short period of time. The case is of exceptional importance for Bulgaria’s marine ecosystem, as both cetaceans and Mediterranean shearwaters are strictly protected species, whose conservation is a priority at both national and international levels.
The team expresses its gratitude to Mihail Iliev, coordinator of conservation activities for the Northern Black Sea at the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB). We urge citizens to immediately report any dead or distressed protected species found along the coastline to the European emergency number 112 or to the relevant Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW) for the area.
For more information:
Operations Manager – Dr. Rusko Petrov, DVM
Tel.: +359 884 877 544
Head of the Cetacean Conservation Project in Bulgaria – Dimitar Popov
Tel.: +359 885 108 712
Yesterday, the team of the Wildlife Rescue Center of ‘Green Balkans’ was mobilized following an extremely alarming report of mass mortality among protected species along the Northern Black Sea coast. The findings from the field inspection in the area from Shabla Tuzla to Durankulak are shocking – the bodies of 9 marine mammals from the three Black Sea species - the harbor porpoise, the common dolphin, and the bottlenose dolphin - and over 300 Mediterranean shearwaters have been discovered.
Late last night, our team returned, transporting some of the deceased animals. The scale of the findings gives serious grounds to suspect a major environmental incident, the causes of which are yet to be determined.
Specialists from the Rescue Center are about to begin a series of necropsies and analyses to determine the cause of death of such a large number of marine mammals and birds in a short period of time. The case is of exceptional importance for Bulgaria’s marine ecosystem, as both cetaceans and Mediterranean shearwaters are strictly protected species, whose conservation is a priority at both national and international levels.
The team expresses its gratitude to Mihail Iliev, coordinator of conservation activities for the Northern Black Sea at the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB). We urge citizens to immediately report any dead or distressed protected species found along the coastline to the European emergency number 112 or to the relevant Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water (RIEW) for the area.
For more information:
Operations Manager – Dr. Rusko Petrov, DVM
Tel.: +359 884 877 544
Head of the Cetacean Conservation Project in Bulgaria – Dimitar Popov
Tel.: +359 885 108 712
