OREANDA-NEWS. The ecological disaster in Kamchatka, which led to the mass death of marine animals in Avacha Bay, occurred due to the bloom of the flagellated algae Karenia. This was stated by Tatyana Orlova, deputy director of the Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center for Marine Biology, reports TASS.

“In the midst of (…) the [algae] bloom, up to three tons of organic matter were supplied to the coastal waters of Kamchatka every day per square kilometer of the water area,” Orlova explained. She stressed that karenia is not the most dangerous type of microalgae.

Orlova noted that scientists are trying to learn how to predict the so-called "red tides" to reduce environmental harm. “These risks should be regulated by government programs to control red tides - without the participation of government agencies, science will not be able to minimize the dangerous consequences of these natural phenomena,” she said.

The fact that the ecological disaster in Kamchatka could be the result of the red tide was reported at the end of November. The video published on the network shows in detail the red blooms near the coast in images from space. Philip Sapozhnikov, a microbiologist and specialist at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the flowering process began not only on the eastern coast of Kamchatka, but also on the western one, and this red tide moved downstream from north to south.

Recall that at the beginning of October it became known about the appearance of many dead fish and sea animals on the shore of Khalaktyrsky beach and in three other bays. Phenol and oil products were detected in three areas of the Avacha Bay water area. Surfers swimming in the water complained of nausea, corneal burns, and skin reactions. Rosprirodnadzor did not rule out that the incident may have man-made reasons. The authorities in the region are considering the possibility of leakage of toxic substances or the release of biological toxins.