Sochi authorities deny the volunteers' data about birds stained with oil.
Volunteers found several more birds on the coast of the Krasnodar Territory, stained with oil products. Authorities claim that no oil product discharges have been detected in Sochi and there are no affected birds.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", a bird completely covered in an oily film was found in the Lazarevsky area, but there are no stains on the coast near Sochi and Tuapse, said ecologist Georgy Kavanoyan on October 11.
On the evening of October 6, an oil tanker Aframax Rio caught fire in the Black Sea near Sochi, after which beaches in Sirius were closed, and access to the embankments and beaches in Sochi was restricted. On October 7, the Ministry of Transport confirmed that the fire started after an attack by unmanned boats. Subsequently, authorities reported that no sea pollution was recorded after the fire on Aframax Rio. Ecologists confirmed that there are currently no discharges on the shores, suggesting that the oil tanks were likely not damaged.
Residents and volunteers found oil product stains on the beaches and birds stained by them in the village of Abrau-Dyurso (Novorossiysk urban district). They linked the pollution to a tanker spotted near the shore: presumably, this is the Aframax Rio, which was towed from the Sochi area after the fire and had passed Kabardinka the day before.
“For two days there was calm, and today there are waves and wind. Fishermen are pulling out gear in oil, a dog swam – came out of the water all covered in oil, people's feet are all in oil. A person swam 20 meters – all in oil,” quotes the words of an unnamed local volunteer from the project “Caution, news.”
She did not specify how many affected birds were found in Abrau-Dyurso. Ecologist Roman Pukalov, director of environmental programs at the organization "Green Patrol", reported six birds found near Novorossiysk, but not in Abrau-Dyurso.
“A black-necked grebe was caught by volunteer Anna yesterday with her own hands around 4-5 PM in the village of Myskhako. Another was caught by volunteers in the area of Ozerievka. These two black-necked grebes were delivered by volunteers to the rehabilitation center "Zhemchuzhnaya" in Anapa yesterday. Another bird arrived from the area of Arkhipo-Osipovka. Anna managed to catch three more birds today in the area of Alexino (Novorossiysk urban district),” he wrote on his Telegram channel.
Pukalov found it difficult to name a possible source of oil products in the sea near Novorossiysk, noting that he had not seen satellite images from October 11-12.
Sochi authorities, in turn, denied information about birds contaminated with oil products in the city. “Reports of affected birds found on the shore of the Black Sea after the tanker fire were spread by some public pages. The administration of the resort city refuted this information. As a result of the inspection of the coastal strip in Sochi, no oil product discharges were detected,” reported the official channel of the Operational Headquarters of Kuban.
The Aframax Rio tanker was sailing under the flag of Liberia with a cargo of crude oil from Novorossiysk to India and, according to sources, was almost fully loaded. Due to the intense burning of oil, rescue vessels initially could not safely approach the tanker. Ecologist Georgy Kavanoyan pointed out that the Aframax Rio has a carrying capacity of 107 thousand tons, while the carrying capacity of the tankers "Volgoneft" that sank in the Kerch Strait was up to five thousand tons each. In his assessment, a significant portion of the oil could have burned during the fire, but there remained a risk of a large amount of oil entering the sea.