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Dolphins of the Black Sea

Dolphins — the most intelligent marine mammals of Ukrainian seas, which in antiquity were called "the sea people." Three species of cetaceans inhabit the Black Sea: bottlenose dolphin, short-beaked common dolphin, and harbour porpoise (azovka), and the history of their harvesting, protection, and military application is closely linked to Crimea.

Overview

The article "Sea People" (Valeriy Verkhovskyi, Krymska Svitlytsia, 2017, No. 42) describes Black Sea dolphins as a biological species, their intelligence, historical harvesting, and unusual role — from an object of commercial fishing to a "biotechnical system" for military purposes. Separately examined is the appearance in the Black Sea of the beluga whale — an Arctic whale brought in, likely through military experiments.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Species composition: Three species of cetaceans inhabit Ukrainian Black Sea waters. Bottlenose dolphin (the largest, up to 3 m, ~120 kg, family Delphinidae) and short-beaked common dolphin (up to 2.8 m, ~60 kg, family Delphinidae) belong to dolphins; harbour porpoise (azovka) — the smallest (up to 1.9 m, ~50 kg), belongs to Phocoenidae (porpoises) and has no beak.
  • Population decline: In the early 20th century, up to 1 million dolphins were counted in the Black Sea; due to intensive hunting (meat, bone meal, lard, glue), the population shrank to a few hundred thousand. Meat and blubber contain mercury and cadmium, making them unsafe for consumption.
  • Protection: In 1966, the USSR banned commercial hunting for 20 years; the moratorium was subsequently extended; all Black Sea countries joined, except Turkey.
  • Intelligence: A dolphin's brain weighs 1.7 kg (more than a human's ~1.4 kg), with twice as many convolutions; "language" — up to 14,000 acoustic signals; capable of echolocation, self-recognition in a mirror, and social mutual assistance.
  • Military application: In 1965, the 184th Research Base (military unit 13132-K) was established in Sevastopol to study Black Sea dolphins; starting in 1975, dolphins (bottlenose) assumed combat duty in Sevastopol Bay for mine countermeasures and naval base protection.
  • Beluga whale in the Black Sea: An Arctic toothed whale (family Monodontidae, up to 6.5 m, ~2 tons), which never inhabited these waters naturally; its appearance is associated with military experiments of the rf Navy. The beluga's diet overlaps with that of dolphins, raising questions about ecological competition.

Contradictions and Open Questions

  • The source describes the beluga whale as introduced by the military, but does not provide definitive confirmation of the reasons for its appearance and consequences for the Black Sea ecosystem — this is an open question.
  • "Beluga" in captions to illustrations (lines 39, 59 of the original) is used regarding the image of a common dolphin and a dolphin in combat gear — possible terminological confusion in the primary source between beluga (whale) and common dolphin (bilobochka).
  • Sea People — main source: article by Valeriy Verkhovskyi (Krymska Svitlytsia, 2017, No. 42) about dolphins of the Black Sea.
  • Black Sea Fleet — in Sevastopol in 1965 a military base for using dolphins was created; ship Delfin (1926) hunted a whale in the Black Sea.
  • Sea of Azov — marine fauna and ecology of the region; harbour porpoise (azovka) — cetacean species common to both the Black and Azov seas.