MOSCOW, March 27, Nikolay Guryanov. Sabotage on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines endangered the population of rare marine animals, an international team of scientists has established. Who and how suffered from the unprecedented attack on international infrastructure is in the material.
In the chemical weapons zone
Four explosions on gas pipelines laid along the bottom of the Baltic Sea occurred on September 26, 2022. According to the seismometer, the power of each was 500 kilograms of TNT.
The sites of the three explosions that struck the branches of SP-1 and SP-2 are grouped in one zone northeast of the Danish island of Bornholm, next to the so-called Bornholm depression. Another point of damage to the SP-2 gas pipeline is located southeast of the island. Between these two points is a large burial site of chemical munitions that arose after the Second World War.
Both gas pipelines, including the never launched SP-2, were filled. 300 thousand metric tons of methane got into the water, and then into the atmosphere. This is what alarmed environmentalists in the first place. However, as it turned out, the emission of greenhouse gas did not significantly affect climate warming or the environment.
At the same time, the explosions themselves dealt a serious blow to the ecosystems of the Baltic Sea, the consequences of which were assessed by a group of scientists from Denmark, Poland and Germany led by Hans Sanderson from Aarhus University.
Even the loss of one is a tragedy
According to the authors of the work, porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), small cetaceans (body length is about one and a half meters), similar to dolphins, could suffer the most.
In the Baltic Sea, this species is under threat of extinction, notes the portal Phys.org. The population is estimated at about 500 individuals. During the breeding season (May-October), the animals congregate about 40 kilometers east of the northern group of explosions and were likely there at the end of September. injured or killed by the shock wave. Within a radius of 12 kilometers — completely lose your hearing, 50 kilometers — temporarily deaf.
» The number of affected individuals is most likely small, but the population is so small that the loss or serious injury of even one animal, especially if it is an adult female, is likely to have an impact on the number of the entire species, «the work says.
In addition to harbor porpoises, Baltic gray seals and fur seals are at risk. True, according to scientists, the terrorist attacks did not have a significant impact on the population of the latter: these species are not so vulnerable. (Gadus morhua), which lasts from March to September. The attack took place just at the end of this season.
The explosives raised 250,000 metric tons of highly toxic sediments from the bottom, including those accumulated as a result of chemical weapons disposal. fish, juveniles and eggs. According to experts, this could damage the endocrine and immune systems, as well as disrupt cod neurotransmitters.
Fish in the Baltic Sea are already not in the best ecological conditions, and the consequences of the explosions «subjected them to additional stress,» experts say.
Not great, but not terrible either
Russian scientists believe that the Nord Stream explosions could hardly have had a sharply negative impact on ecosystems.Although, of course, there is nothing good in this. In the Gulf of Mexico, the destruction of gas pipelines is incomparable,” says Anton Chernetsky, researcher at the Marine Mammal Laboratory of the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences.
He explains that the Baltic is quite poor in marine mammals, which are concentrated mainly in the western part of the sea. In the Gulf of Finland and off the Baltic coast, there are literally single observations of the same porpoises.
According to the scientist, in recent years, the dynamics of the number of marine mammals in the Baltic Sea has been consistently low.
«Grey seals were actively hunted until the 1970s. In Sweden and Finland they were given a reward for them — like in our country for shooting wolves «Of course, now this has been stopped,» says Chernetsky. «They are trying to protect the animals. But the Baltic Sea is historically subject to strong anthropogenic impact, so today the number of mammals is lower than it used to be. However, there is no catastrophic drop.»
Who blew up Potoky
In early February, the well-known American journalist Seymour Hersh said that the terrorist attack on the gas pipelines connecting Russia and Germany was organized by the United States with the participation of Norway and on the direct orders of American President Joe Biden. The operation took place under the guise of the Baltops exercises.
A month later, The New York Times, citing intelligence reports, reported that the Nord Stream bombing was allegedly carried out by a «pro-Ukrainian group.» The leadership of Ukraine denies any involvement.
Moscow is sure that the organization of such complex terrorist attacks by private activists is impossible without the participation of a technologically advanced state.
Russia and China have prepared a draft resolution of the UN Security Council on an investigation into the terrorist attacks on the Nord Stream . Voting will take place on March 27.