On?October 5, nearly 95% of marine life was found dead in the Kamchatka coast in Russia's far east.?
Now a second instance of mass death of marine animals has come to light - a little over a week ago, octopuses, seals, crabs and other species were found dead on the Khalaktyrsky beach in Kamchatka.
The blame for this terrible tragedy is being directed towards?climate change and pollution caused by human beings?
According to Moscow Times,?Kamchatka regional governor Vladimir Solodov, announced the second 'extremely large' mass death saying neighbouring beaches had not been affected,?
Climate change 'and other polluting effects as we humankind cause to the Pacific Ocean' were 'almost certainly linked' to the deaths, Solodov said.? ?
Soviet-era storage facility housing poisonous chemicals had been responsible for the deaths, as has been speculated since the first incident last week.? ? ?
According to a CNN report, surfers were the first to spot that something was wrong at Khalaktyr beach after about 20 people in a surf camp experienced severe retina burns and symptoms similar to food poisoning.
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Initial probes showed that levels of phenol, a substance often used as antiseptic or disinfectant, were 2.5 times higher than normal, and petroleum levels 3.6 times higher, reports CNN.? ??
Alarm was raised last month when surfers and swimmers in the area began complaining of eye pain and nausea, after going in the water.
People have since been warned to stay away from black-sand Khalaktyrsky beach on Russia's Pacific shoreline.?Head of Kamchatka's natural resources and ecology ministry,?Alexey Kumarkov, said: "The massive scale indicates that it is related to chemical pollution. We are determining its source."
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Senior Russian scientist, Ivan Kulakov, said the two volcanoes in the area had been calm for the past six months, so it was unlikely the cause of the pollution was natural toxic substances.
The head of Greenpeace Climate Project in Russia, Vasily Yablokov, has called for immediate action to contain, clean and prevent further pollution.