Dozens of tons of jellyfish have died in the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park due to water contamination with sunflower oil.
This was reported on Facebook by Ivan Rusev, an ecologist and employee of the Tuzly Estuaries National Nature Park, according to Ukrinform.
He noted that during a recent survey of the Black Sea coastal zone, it was discovered that, in addition to the sea waters, vegetable oil had also been dumped in various areas of the sandbar in the Tuzly Estuaries National Park, including the park’s protected zone.
According to the ecologist, the area of the sandbar contaminated with oil in the national park, based on visual estimates over the entire survey period, exceeded 10 hectares. Oil-contaminated algae, shells, and jellyfish were also washed up on the beaches and the sandbar in general.
In particular, tens of thousands of moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) and horned jellyfish (Rhizostoma pulmo) were found in the shallow waters of the coastal zone within the park, floating in an oil-covered broth.
