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Russian chief investigator requests info on mass death of sea creatures in Kamchatka

Excessive amounts of phenol and oil products were detected in sea waters near the Khalaktyrsky Beach, where hordes of sea creatures had been washed ashore

MOSCOW, October 4. /TASS/. The Russian Investigative Committee’s chief, Alexander Bastrykin, will be briefed about the ongoing probe into the mass death of sea animals in Russia’s Far Eastern region of Kamchatka, the committee’s spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told reporters on Saturday.

"The chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee told the head of the Kamchatka Region investigative department to inform him about the ongoing procedural inquiry into the mass death of sea animals in the Pacific Ocean," she said.

Earlier, Russian hydrometeorology service specialists detected excessive amounts of phenol and oil products in sea waters near the Khalaktyrsky Beach, where, according to local residents, hordes of sea creatures had been washed ashore.

Some time later, increased levels of petroleum products were registered at three more locations in the Avacha Gulf. Mass death of sea animals was also reported in Malaya Lagernaya Bay, Bolshaya Lagernaya Bay and Babya Bay.

Russian Minister of Environmental Protection Dmitry Kobylkin said environmental situation in the area is being analyzed. Experts took samples of water, sand and air from the affected zones.