Blooming algae was behind a recent mass death of sea animals that saw octopuses and seals wash up on the shore off a Russian peninsula, scientists said on Friday in the final conclusion to their probe.

Locals in Kamchatka, a volcanic peninsula in Russia's Far East, raised the alarm in September after the animals were found dead and surfers complained of stinging eyes.

Scientists later said that up to 95 percent of marine life living along the seabed in the affected area had died.

Environmental campaigners said they were conducting their own inquiries and were not yet able to confirm the official probe's findings.

Andrei Adrianov, vice president of Russia's Academy of Sciences, announced the probe's conclusions on Friday, saying the mass death was due to the effects of toxins from single-cell algae.

Speaking at the same meeting, Svetlana Radionova of environmental watchdog Rosprirodnadzor said her agency conducted over 5,000 tests.

She said the agency did not see a way the situation could have been caused by humans.

In a separate criminal probe, investigators announced they had eliminated oil spills and toxic waste as possible causes.

They added that the previously reported high levels of phenol and petroleum products were "not critical" and had been observed in the bay for decades.

Environment Minister Dmitry Kobylkin said the situation in Kamchatka was improving.

But Russia's branch of Greenpeace said they would not rule out any theories until they received the final results of their own probes.

Greenpeace's Yelena Sakirko told AFP that human factors could have affected the algae -- for example, if sewage or phosphates from washing powder and fertiliser leaked into the water.

Sakirko also said scientists were concerned that the incident could affect the food chains in the region, causing long-term damage to wildlife.

The World Wildlife Fund said its experts were likewise unable to make any conclusions yet.

"Unfortunately, public data available today does not fully prove any version of the ecological crisis off the coast of Kamchatka," it said.

Russia has been hit by a string of environmental disasters this year.

Just weeks after the Kamchatka incident, an oil spill covering 35,000 square metres was reported in the waters of the port city of Nakhodka in Russia's far east.

The most devastating incident took place in May, when some 20,000 tonnes of diesel leaked from a fuel tank into nearby rivers in the Siberian Arctic.

Related Links
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Air pollution killed 500k newborns in 2019: global study
Washington (AFP) Oct 21, 2020
Air pollution killed 476,000 newborns in 2019, with the biggest hotspots in India and Sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new global study which said that nearly two-thirds of the deaths came from noxious fumes from cooking fuels. More than 116,000 Indian infants died from air pollution in the first month of life, and the corresponding figure was 236,000 in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the State of Global Air 2020. The estimates were produced by the US-based Health Effects Institute and the I ... read more