Authorities reported Monday, October 12, 2020, that a new mass die-off of marine animals has been discovered off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka, where mysterious toxic pollution along a 40 km (25 miles) stretch recently killed 95 percent of seabed animals and caused health hazards among surfers since September.
Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov said he received reports from scientists and witnesses of dead marine creatures off the coast, following the initial discovery last week.
Divers who studied the waters reported that 95 percent of seabed creatures were found dead, including sea urchins, octopi, seals, and starfish. Greenpeace Russia called the situation an “ecological disaster,” which prompted authorities to investigate marine pollution.
“95 percent are dead,” said Ivan Usatov of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in a meeting with other scientists and Solodov. “Some large fish, shrimps, and crabs have survived, but in very small numbers.”
Solodov noted that neighboring beaches were not affected, but the evidence showed that “the scale of the occurrence is extremely large.”
He added that the deaths were “almost certainly linked to climate change and other polluting effects we as humankind cause to the Pacific Ocean.”
“We can’t say that a local man-made object near [the port city of] Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was the cause,” the governor said.