Date: Sun, 21 Apr, 1996
Black Sea Dolphins Face Extinction

BUCHAREST, (IPS) - Scientists here have warned that dolphins will become extinct in the Black Sea if nothing is done to end the threat posed by pollution and the legacy of years of hunting.
"Something must be done to stop the disappearance of the dolphins," says Alexandru Bologa, scientific researcher at the Romanian Institute for Marine Research (IRCM), based in the port city of Constanta, about 250 kilometers south-east of Bucharest.

According to Bologa, the dolphin population has dwindled to just one percent of the number recorded 46 years ago. In 1950, he said, one million dolphins belonging to three species lived in the Black Sea. However, their numbers started decreasing soon after. By 1970 there were just 70,000 of these highly intelligent aquatic mammals left, and by 1995 the school had been reduced to 10,000. If the present rate of destruction continues dolphins will cease to exist in the Black Sea by the turn of the century, he said. He blames the pollution of the Black Sea and the cruel massacre of the animals during the former communist regime, under its grimly-titled "program of economic capitalization of dolphins."

Romanian researchers have already taken some steps to save the dolphins. This campaign is being supported by a number of regional and international organizations including the Mediterranean Sea Scientific Exploration Group, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

As many scientific reports show, the water in the Black Sea is strongly polluted by a variety of chemicals. One of the biggest sources of pollution is the Danube river. It flows through six countries over close to 3,000 kilometers between its origins in Germany and where it falls into the Black Sea in Romania. In its path it carries various kinds of chemicals that either are dumped by factories and other industrial installations or seep through the earth from large agricultural centers.

Shipping in the Black Sea also contributes to the pollution, causing considerable amounts of oil spillage. Ecologists estimate that approximately 30,000 tons of phosphorus and three quarter million tons of nitrates are poured into the Black Sea annually.
"This is quite dangerous not only for dolphins, but also for the entire fauna of the sea,"said Bologa, who urges the government to endorse the "polluter pays" principle.
"The people who ignore the most elementary rules for protection and contribute to the pollution of water should be sued or fined."

According to Bologa, if effective steps are not taken to protect the dolphins, then in the future one will only be able to see live dolphins at the "dolphinarium" (a public amusement center) in Constanta.



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