Scientists from Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences studied the Black Sea beaches for various types of pollution. In particular, oceanologies took samples of loose soil to assess the degree of pollution of the coastal strip, and also analyzed the state of microphytobenthos - microalgae, cyanobacteria and protozoa capable of photosynthesis and developing in the surface layer of bottom sediments.

The research was conducted in the run-up zone - the zone of direct contact between land and sea. It is here that events occur that are a consequence and reflection of both coastal and marine processes.

Monitoring studies of the sand bottom ecosystem in the run-up strip have been conducted by Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences on various beaches of the Black Sea over the past four years. In particular, we are talking about the spring and autumn states of this area of ​​the marine ecosystem on the sandy beaches of Kerch, Anapa (Dzhemete), Tsemesskaya and Golubaya bays, as well as Vulan, Lermontovsky and Tuapse bays.

Following the massive fuel oil spills that occurred in December 2024 in the Kerch Strait, scientists from the Laboratory of Ecology of Coastal Bottom Communities conducted two series of spring observations of the state of Anapa microphyte communities - based on the results of expeditions in March and April 2025. The analysis showed that already in the spring of this year, the communities had an appearance characteristic of this season of the year, did not show signs of oppression and did not show signs of degradation.

With the participation of students from the Kerch State Marine Technological University, experiments were conducted at the end of April on the sandy beaches of Kerch. At that time, another emission of fuel oil occurred here, which covered the shore with spots quite densely. Sand with fuel oil was taken from the strip of the run-up, placed in sea water from the same places in conditions close to natural, and slides were exposed on the surface of the sand. Observations showed that after three days, colonial settlements of some species of diatoms, already known earlier for this area of ​​the coast, began to successfully grow on the slides, naturally smeared with fuel oil from the sand. Species from the genera Amphora and Achnanthes developed especially actively, the cells of which divided and formed the simplest ornaments not only on the glass, but also directly on thin films of fuel oil.

"The obtained observation results indicate that the microphytobenthos in the surf strip, which was exposed to the strongest impact of fuel oil for several months after the spills, showed noticeable recovery capabilities. And since these communities are a food base for most invertebrates colonizing the sandy bottom of shallow waters, we can also talk about the beginning of the recovery of this area of ​​the coastal ecosystem already at the early stages after the spills - in fact, in the first days after the removal of the continuous film of fuel oil covering the surf strip," concluded Philipp Sapozhnikov, PhD in Biology, leading researcher at the Laboratory of Ecology of Coastal Bottom Communities.

Photo by: F.V. Sapozhnikov