It would seem that such a familiar Black Sea is absolutely safe. Nothing like this. In its waters, you can not only be stung or stabbed, there is a threat and more serious - suffocating poisonous fumes.
Dead zone
Not everyone knows that the waters of the Black Sea are 90% filled with dissolved hydrogen sulfide. This discovery back in 1890 was made by the Russian geologist Nikolai Andrusov. In some places, the hydrogen sulfide layer is located at a distance of 50 meters from the sea surface, and its upward trend continues. Periodically, the liquid lens of "dead" water comes very close to the surface layers, which has a detrimental effect on the inhabitants of the underwater world.
There is still life in the hydrogen sulfide cloud, but in the absence of oxygen, only some species of sea worms and anaerobic bacteria that participate in the decomposition of the remains of living organisms can live here.
Hydrogen sulfide in water is not a unique phenomenon; it is also found in other seas and oceans. But given that the Black Sea is actually isolated from the World Ocean by the shallow Bosphorus, in the absence of sufficient water exchange, the concentration of hydrogen sulfide here goes off scale.
Sometimes, as a result of storms, hydrogen sulfide vapors break out, and then in the gas outlet zone there is a specific smell of rotten eggs. This is fraught with extreme danger. If large amounts of hydrogen sulfide come into contact with air, an explosion may occur. According to experts, the explosion of all hydrogen sulfide contained in the Black Sea can be compared with the consequences of the fall of an asteroid weighing half the mass of the Moon.
But something like this has already happened. On the deep night of September 12, 1927, the Crimean peninsula experienced the full power of an 8-point earthquake. The epicenter was located 25 kilometers south of Yalta, giant landslides were recorded, buildings collapsed, almost the entire crop died.
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As eyewitnesses testified, the vibration of the earth's surface was accompanied by a disgusting stench and flashes directed from the surface of the sea to the heavens. Pillars of fire, shrouded in smoke, reached several hundred meters in height. So the Black Sea burned. Most scientists have no doubt that it was hydrogen sulfide.
Experts are seriously concerned about the problem of accumulating hydrogen sulfide in the surface layers of the Black Sea. Any tectonic shift can lead to the release of a huge amount of toxic substances and then the consequences can be much more serious than during the Crimean earthquake.
Oceanologist Alexander Gorodnitsky noted that such a threat is quite real. “The Black Sea is a seismically active region, there are earthquakes that provoke the release of gas hydrates - accumulations of methane and other combustible gases compressed under high pressure”.
In an unfavorable scenario, tons of concentrated sulfuric acid will be released into the atmosphere: thousands of people will die of suffocation, millions will have to move further from the coast, but even there they will be overtaken by hydrogen sulfide, spilled by acid rains.
Several years ago, the release of hydrogen sulfide was recorded at the Koblevo resort in the Nikolaev region (Ukraine). More than 100 tons of dead fish were washed ashore then. Engineer Gennady Bugrin, who participated in the elimination of the consequences of the disaster, predicts that such an emergency could happen again at any time and on a larger scale.
Toxic waters
The situation is no better with the environmental situation in the waters of the Black Sea, primarily because of the waste constantly flowing there from the Danube, Prut and Dnieper. Industrial enterprises and municipal services shamelessly pour tons of industrial and human waste into rivers, which leads to the gradual extinction of many species of flora and fauna of the Black Sea coastal waters. In Russia, pollution is most pronounced in the area of the ports of Novorossiysk and Taman.
Together with the river water, pesticides, heavy metals, phosphorus, nitrogen enter the Black Sea, as a result of which phytoplankton proliferate and the water begins to bloom. This leads to the death of benthic microorganisms, which in turn causes hypoxia and the subsequent death of many inhabitants of the seabed - squid, mussels, oysters, young sturgeon, crabs. According to ecologists, the area of killing sometimes exceeds 40,000 square kilometers.
Of course, all this does not pass without a trace for a person. Oleg Stepanyan, the head of the department of extreme natural phenomena and man-made disasters at the YSC, candidate of biological sciences, says that one should always remember: the Black Sea is not a pool with filtered water. It is important to choose the right places for swimming, because often even on city beaches you can see how sewage from the nearest cafes and eateries is poured into the sea.
And although, according to Stepanyan, special services monitor the bacterial purity of the beaches, you need to stay away from such places. Especially dangerous in such cases are sandy and pebble beaches in the area of large resort cities, where the self-purification of water is slow.
Dmitry Shevchenko, Deputy Coordinator of the Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus public organization, notes that there are such contaminated areas in the Black Sea, for example, in Gelendzhik or Anapa bays, that entering the water is simply dangerous for health.
Today, the massive development of green filamentous and lamellar algae, including the so-called sea lettuce (Ulva), has become a constant problem for the Black Sea. Eating such algae carries the risk of serious poisoning, as it grows in areas contaminated with organic matter through wastewater.
Doctors also warn against eating mussels and rapans caught in the large port waters of Novorossiysk, Tuapse, Sevastopol. Mussels actively filter the poisoned sea water, rapanas are predators that eat them. But if, nevertheless, someone decided to feast on the Black Sea delicacies, then you need to carefully look at the color of the meat. Light yellow or pinkish indicates that it is most likely suitable for consumption, but blue, black or intensely colored indicates that the mollusks have accumulated heavy metals, oil hydrocarbons and other toxicants.
Dangerous inhabitants
In the waters of the Black Sea, of course, there are not so many poisonous inhabitants as in the tropical seas, but everything here needs to be extremely vigilant. First of all, we are talking about large jellyfish with a diameter exceeding 30 centimeters. They should not be touched as there is a risk of burning from stinging cells. Touching such a jellyfish in the throat or chest area can cause respiratory paralysis or heartbeat failure.
In the sandy shallow waters of the Anapa Bank - in the area from the village of Volna to the village of Blagoveshchensky - vacationers often encounter a stingray. But be careful! A blow from a poisonous thorn from this marine life can even pierce a rubber boot and inflict a very sensitive wound with subsequent swelling of the damaged part of the body.
The small scorpion fish, as it is also called, the sea ruff, is also a serious danger. She can be found hunting among the stones. Unfortunately, the meeting takes place when a person has already stepped on the fish with his foot. A prick of her poisonous thorns will be very painful and will take several weeks to heal.
Although the sea dragon does not look intimidating, it still harbors no less threat than a stingray or a scorpion fish. Poisonous glands are located on its first dorsal fin. A fisherman or a diver sometimes inadvertently grabs a thorn and, as a result, excruciating sharp pains at the site of the wound and a fever, accompanied by a rise in temperature. In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor.