Greenpeace employee conducts an underwater examination in Kamchatka to identify the scale of the environmental disaster in the Pacific Ocean Photo: Irina Kozlovskikh/Greenpeace

The Russian branch of Greenpeace published the first results of the study of its samples from Kamchatka, where an environmental disaster occurred in September - the trunk animals were massively killed, and the surfers complained about well -being.

In the samples of sea and river water, as well as organisms of mollusks and crabs, components of oil fractions, fatty acids and esters, chlorine -containing and some other compounds were found, Greenpeace reports. Local laboratories immediately spoke of the exceeding the maximum permissible concentration of oil products and phenols. But oil spills could not cause the death of bottom animals, experts pointed out: birds and organisms close to the surface suffer from oil film.

In addition, a diallyl sulfide has been found in water, which may include the composition of biopesticides, writes Greenpeace, as well as compounds of the Terino group, derivatives of fatty acids and hexaetilenlyicol.

Pesticides could have entered the ocean from the Kozelsky Polygon of Poisonous chemicals, environmentalists suspected. But Greenpeace tests do not completely confirm such a version, since, for example, DDT and generally the presence of cyanides and chlorological pesticides have not been revealed. Research for samples for components of rocket fuel (heptil) has not yet been completed.

The samples also establish the presence of some metals, including mercury compounds, Bora, Vanadia, Selena at the level of maximum permissible concentration. “It is clear that the water there is dirty. But to say that it has happened so far, and, possibly, we will not get an unambiguous scientifically confirmed answer, ”Vtimes said Greenpeace Director Ivan Blokov.

None of the compounds established in the samples of government agencies or Greenpeace in itself or in identified concentrations could cause the observed serious consequences, the organization notes. Ecologists leave both groups of versions in the work:

Technogenic - pesticides entering the water (including from the Kozelsky training ground), rocket fuel or oxidizing agent, the discharge of harmful substances from ships, the effects of harmful substances buried on the ocean;
natural - mass flowering of toxic algae, causing the so -called "red tide"; Volcanic and geothermic activity.

In the samples of water, micro -crossbars were found - dinoflagellates, VTIMES said Senior researcher at the Ecology Laboratory of the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Philip Sapozhnikov. Their massive flowering in the coastal zone is confirmed by the observation of an increased concentration of pigments (photosynthetic and related) in satellite images. The toxins identified by them could well affect the surfers - but not on the bottom invertebrates, since these toxins affect the warm -blooded much more, he says. Sea invertebrates can accumulate toxins in the tissues, and become dangerous for a person who eaten them, but at the same time they suffer slightly.

The tributary and bottom organisms could die from a lack of oxygen - this is a “cascading overse”, when during flowering some types of dominant algae replace others, and the former dominants die and fall to the bottom in the form of flakes covered with bacteria (the so -called “sea snow”), said the shoemakers. These bacteria consume oxygen. As a result, the bottom fauna suffocates, dies and bacteria also eat it - the second step of the Cascade of the Freech. The third step is when there are very few oxygen in the tribe of water, tributarous fish and bivalve mollusks begin to die from hypoxia. Such flaras occur in a huge part of the coastal water area, he remarks.

The organisms who died from hypoxia as a whole look unnatural and can correspond to the descriptions of bloggers, say that the dead octopuses, mollusks, worms and other sea animals are twisted, as if boiled, describes the shoemakers.

But even in this case, it is necessary to answer the question of what caused such a strong “red tide”. “I have not seen such a large-scale moray organisms due to the“ red tide ”either in Kamchatka or in other places. Therefore, it is too early to exclude the technogenic component, ”said Alexey Ozerov, deputy director of the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology of the Far Eastern Railways, speaking in the Public Chamber.

Usually strong flowering of algae is associated with warming water. But according to space observations, significant temperature increase in the last months has not been recorded, notes blocks. Now the second wave of algae flowering in Kamchatka, the first is in the spring, when the water heats up, the second - before the autumn cooling, continues the shoemakers. In recent years, global warming slightly raised the temperature of the water in the seas, which could affect the intensity of the reproduction of algae, he believes.

For the “red tide”, favorable conditions are needed - in pure water, algae will multiply moderately, explains the shoemakers: “Probably, we observe a natural response to the anthropogenic effect.” The samples shows that a huge number of phosphates, iron, ammonium and even phenols were received in the water. Iron and phenols can stimulate the growth and reproduction of algae. But how exactly they fell into the water, it is still incomprehensible - a port -based area, there could be a lot of things, the ship could add pollution that merged ballast waters, which is generally forbidden to do, the shoemakers reasoned. But the ballast waters of one ship would hardly be enough on 40 km of the coastline. So, it is quite possible that the rains were washed away by pollutants from the shore, he concludes.

Studies conducted the other day with a scientific vessel off the coast of Kamchatka confirmed the death of 90-95% of the bottom organisms, Ozerov said. The problem is very large: poisoning from the Avachinsky Gulf went south, now the release of the dead of the tribute fauna is fixed by the cape of the scapula, he stated. The spaceships at the entrance to the Avachinsky bay can be seen with a spot with a diameter of 7-8 km, in which the content of chlorophyll, compared with the usual ocean water, is less than an order of magnitude-this is completely new data, Lakes emphasized. And if one of the links of the ocean natural chain is broken, its place is occupied by another group, for example, dinoflagellates micro -crossbars. The reason, according to him, could be the drains from Lake Terkivnaya, next to which the city landfill of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky is located.

Kamchatka catastrophe can be a reaction of nature to human actions