The international ecological expedition EMBLAS on the research vessel Mare Nigrum recently departed from the coast of Odessa to explore the state of the Black Sea. Scientists from Ukraine, Georgia and EU countries will appreciate the harm that a man inflicts on the sea and its inhabitants. And one of the important tasks of the expedition is to find out how to preserve the population of the Black Sea dolphins.

The researchers, whose path lies from Odessa to Batumi, plan to return on September 6, writes Today.

"The expedition participants will travel more than 3000 km and take more than 1000 samples of water and bottom sediments," said Viktor Komorin, director of the Ukrainian Research Center for Marine Ecology, noting that this is the second expedition, but this time scientists will gather new data on the previously unexplored Things.

So, experts plan to assess the pollution of the sea with microplastic. "Microplastics are small pieces of plastic that often swallow fish and birds. He does great damage to the sea and can get to your table. We want to estimate the amount of this plastic to understand what to do with it, "- said" Today "the representative of the project Elena Marushevskaya. This plastic in the form of fragments of bottles, children's toys and other garbage falls into the sea not without the participation of tourists.

Scientists will also check for the first time the remains of DNA of living creatures at the bottom and in seawater to understand what kinds of plants and animals inhabit the abysses. They are also going to investigate and pollute the sea with toxic substances, in order to reduce it in the future. "The results of our expedition will also be taken into account in the strategy of the Ministry of Ecology," the EMBLAS.

To preserve the population of dolphins, scientists are planning to find out the reasons for their death. "Many die in fishing nets. In the world, non-target by-catch of dolphins (unintentional mining caught in the network in industrial fishing. - Auth. ) Is considered the main factor of their death. For example, we found dolphins without tails: the animals got entangled in the networks, they cut off their tails, so as not to cut the net, and threw them out, "Natalia Gozak, coordinator of projects of the World Wildlife Fund in Ukraine, told us about the cruelty of some fishermen, adding that the industrial fishing Deprives dolphins of food in habitual habitats.

It also harms the animals, because they swim in shallow water, where they can not return to the sea.

To acquaint people with the flora and fauna of the Black Sea, the EMBLAS project team developed a game for smartphones. "Its goal is to save the virtual Black Sea inhabitant, whom you see on the map," says the application description. Rescue virtual dolphins or crabs, gaining points for the photo of seabirds, fish and animals, as well as debris deposits on the coast.