Kamchatka Eco Disaster: Scientists Find 95% Of Seafloor-Dwelling Marine Life Dead, Blame Pollution

Pollution off the Pacific shoreline of the remote Kamchatka peninsula has caused the mass death of marine creatures, according to Russian scientists.

Many people raised an alarm in September as surfers experienced stinging eyes from the water and sea creatures like seals, octopuses and sea urchins washed up dead on shore.

Anna Strelchenko / TASS

The incident has been reported after a massive oil leak in Siberia. An investigation has been launched into the matter; some fear that there could be a leakage of poisonous substances in underground storage.

A team of divers from a state nature reserve found a ¡®mass death¡¯ of sea life at a depth of five to 10 metres (16-33 feet), Ivan Usatov of the Kronotsky Reserve said, adding that ¡®95 percent are dead¡¯, reports AFP.

"A few large fish, prawns and crabs are left, but only a very small number," AFP quoted the scientist as saying at a meeting with Kamchatka Governor Vladimir Solodov. WWF Russia in a statement said that the pollutant appears to be a ¡®highly toxic transparent substance that is highly soluble in water,' and not oil.

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Tass.ru

According to the Kamchatka governor many surfers suffered burns to their corneas. Kamchatka is known for its spectacular scenery and live volcanoes and has a population of about 300,000 inhabitants.

¡®Putin in June publicly chided officials for being evasive and slow to act over a spill of thousands of tonnes of diesel into soil and waterways in Arctic Siberia¡¯, according to the report.

Scientists are still trying to find the source of pollution. Theories regarding a natural effect from microscopic marine algae have not been ruled out but focus is on potential manmade causes.

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Tass.ru

Experts took water and soil samples from a site called Kozelsky on Tuesday. This place has been used since the Soviet era to store poisonous substances deep in the ground.

"The most obvious answer where the source of the pollution could be is the Kozelsky poisonous chemical site," Solodov reportedly said, after prosecutors, natural resources inspectors and criminal investigators visited the site and tested soil and water from a nearby river.

The site opened in 1979 to store pesticides but it has no legal owner today.

The unguarded site "just by official accounts contains around 108 tonnes of pesticides and poisonous chemicals," Greenpeace Russia campaign director Ivan Blokov said in a statement.

More information regarding the exact cause of deaths is awaited.