23 Oct 2020 20:08

Death of animals in Russia's Kamchatka wasn't due to manmade causes - ministry

MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax) - The recent death of animals in Kamchatka had natural causes, the theory that it was a manmade disaster has been ruled out, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dmitry Kobylkin said.

"No, it's already absolutely clear that it wasn't a manmade disaster. Excluding manmade factors, it could have been an earthquake, volcanoes, or some manifestation such as a rupture, [...] in actual fact, there were lots of theories at the very beginning, and by excluding different elements, including those checked in the samples that were taken in water, in the soil in the rivers, we ourselves, the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources [Rosprirodnadzor] concluded that it was not a manmade accident, that we didn't find a spill of either petroleum products or any other serious concentrations that could have caused the mass death of marine life," Kobylkin said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 (VGTRK) television channel.

Following consultations with scientists, "we came to the conclusion that there was a natural factor," he said.

The deaths of these animals were caused by algae toxins, Kobylkin said.

An expedition will be conducted next year to establish what prompted the "red tide" that caused the algae to release toxins, he said.

Surfers said in late September that the sea had changed color off Khalaktyrsky Beach in the southeast of Kamchatka. Local residents posted photos of dead sea animals, such as octopuses, sea urchins, and sea stars which had washed ashore, on social media. They also complained of throat irritation and eye burns after swimming.

Following a check, water specialists found excessive amounts of phosphates (10.8 times the normal level), iron (7.2), phenols (6.9), and ammonium (6.2). The head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor), Svetlana Radionova, said that laboratory tests had revealed no specific substances in the samples from Avacha Gulf.