Birds in fuel oil continue to be found amid reports of no emissions in Kuban

Birds covered in fresh fuel oil continue to arrive at the Zhemchuzhnaya Rehabilitation Center, despite no official reports of fuel oil emissions.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," on January 6, the Kuban operational headquarters reported its participation in cleaning up the nets, noting that no new fuel oil emissions had been recorded. On January 8, volunteers from the "Dolphins" headquarters reported a large amount of discarded garbage in the Tuzla area, as well as old and new fuel oil emissions. A year after the tanker accident in the Kerch Strait, local residents are finding birds covered in oil, and volunteers at the Zhemchuzhnaya Center continue their rehabilitation efforts despite facing enormous debts.

The Zhemchuzhnaya Rehabilitation Center is once again receiving birds covered in fuel oil, according to a post on the center's Telegram channel. "Fresh fuel oil, which no one has ever heard of," the center emphasized. Attached to the message were photographs of birds whose bodies were almost completely covered in a black, oily film.

"What should we do about this? Wash it and help it recover," wrote the center's volunteers, asking for help raising funds for medications and supplies.

In Telegram channels and chats covering the problem of cleaning up fuel oil along the Kuban coast, commentators also reported finding birds in the oil.

Today, the "Network, Sieve, Shovel" headquarters reported that a bird with an oil stain on its chest was sitting on the shore at Bugayskaya Spit and asked volunteer drivers to pick it up.

In the "Anapa. Volunteers of the Sea" Telegram chat, Olga reported a bird in Anapa. "The bird is covered in oil, doesn't go far in the water. It comes ashore and moves with difficulty," she wrote.

"There's a bird covered in oil on the shore near ERA," Irina Mazunina reported in the same chat on January 14.

Dirty birds weren't seen during the summer because they were flying away from the Krasnodar Territory, but a new oil "arrival" began in October. Birds soiled with oil products are arriving at the center on Zhemchuzhnaya Street at a rate of several individuals per day, Kedr.Media wrote on December 25, 2025*.

"Birds migrate, they are not nailed down. The sea is also a living structure, currents change, new storms arise, which can affect these rusty garbage dumps still lying on the seabed. We are not blind and also see satellite images with stains. It is likely that the new oil-stained birds are connected specifically to leaks from the wreckage of tankers," volunteer Zhanna is quoted as saying in the publication.

"The newly arrived birds could not have gotten so dirty on land, volunteer Anna believes.

"This is a dive, they accelerate through the water, take off, and "fall" from the same height into the sea, so, you see, this place is especially polluted," she points to the "crust" of Fuel oil and feathers on the great crested grebe's chest, which must be soaked before cleaning can begin.

As a reminder, on December 15, 2024, two tankers carrying fuel oil sank in the Kerch Strait. A crew member from one of the tankers died. Furthermore, an oil spill occurred, leading to catastrophic environmental consequences, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "Fuel Oil Spill in the Kerch Strait".

Materials on the consequences of the fuel oil spill have been collected by the "Caucasian Knot" on the page "Eco-disaster in Kuban".

* are included in the register of foreign agents.

** The activities of Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) are banned in Russia.