On the coast of Odessa, the mass death of jellyfish was found, probably contaminated with fuel oil. This information was announced by Ivan Rusev, the head of the Research Department of the National Natural Park "

According to Rusev, almost 5 thousand jellyfish was found in the sand near the water, from 2 to 10 cm. They are also present in the water, in shallow water, but due to a large number of them, they could not be counted.

This phenomenon was a surprise to ecologists, since they first observe a similar situation in winter.

Rusev explained that jellyfish are bioindicators of water pollution. Their mucus contains bacteria that can split hydrocarbons, including oil, and can also capture drops of oil products from water. According to the ecologist, there is a hypothesis that a larger amount of jellyfish can accelerate the process of oil products due to their nutrients that contribute to the growth of certain bacteria.

Meduses are invertebrate organisms, 98% consist of water, and they are important for research on the effect of pollution on the marine environment.

It is worth recalling that in December 2024 two Russian tankers sank by the Kerch Strait, having entailing the pollution of the Black Sea with fuel oil. In January 2025, environmentalists discovered traces of fuel oil on the Odessa coast, and later on the shore they found birds polluted by oil, one of which died.