About 40 dolphins have washed up on the coast of Georgia in the past two months. Ichthyologist Archil Guchmanidze said in an interview with Batumelebi that this is the highest figure in the last 10 years of observations, UNN reports.
"The main question now is which factors have most affected the dolphins washed ashore. This requires detailed research... Laboratory tests, autopsies, anatomical studies, water quality analysis, and comprehensive research are necessary. But no one even touches the dolphins washed ashore... no research is being conducted," the scientist says.
Speaking generally about the causes of dolphin deaths, he named four traditional factors: injuries to dolphins from fishing nets, sea pollution, viral diseases, and shipping. To these, a fifth has been added — the war — military operations in the Black Sea.