|
|
| The
killers of the Baikal seals
|
| SLAUGHTERED
IN THE SNOW
|
| by Samuel Hutchinson.
This place is one of the world's natural marvels,
a gem magnificently set deep in the verdant taiga. Lake Baikal
is the most ancient (20 million years old) and deepest (1637m)
lake on the globe, containing one fifth of the earth's fresh
water. It shelters hundreds of unique species, among others
the nerpa, the only fresh-water seal to be found on Earth.
Environmentalists
are concerned that the Baikal seal is currently under severe
ecological threat. Each year, thousands of them are to be found
strewing the lake's shores. Poachers are not the only potential
culprits to blame. Many die from a virus traceable to a worrying
build-up of poisonous dioxins in the fatty tissues of the seals.
Environmental groups chiefly blame the pollution on the nearby
BAIKALSK PULP AND PAPER MILL which disgorges 24,000 tonnes of
pollutants into the lake each year. |
CELLULOSE
PLANT KILLING BABY SEALS. Lake Baikal, April 2001. A baby
seal basking on the ice of the Baikal lake near the local
Pulp and Paper Mill. The plant disgorges 24 000 tonnes of
pollutants into the lake each year. As a result, thousands
of seals die from a virus traceable to a worrying build-up
of poisonous dioxins in the fatty tissues. Credit:
V.Velengurin/Moscoop
|
Environmentalists are concerned that the Baikal seal
is currently under severe ecological threat. Last year, 300 nerpas
were found dead on the northern shore of the lake. The local press
reported that they had all died from a mysterious virus. Last July,
the rotten bodies of 53 seals drifted ashore on the beach of Ust Barguzin
in the central part of the lake. " a sort of yellow foam was
to be observed coming from their mouth " said Vladimir Melnikov,
the director of Ust Barguzin National Park. From 1994 to 2000, the
number of seals declined from 104, 000 to 67, 000 according to official
statistics from the Irkutsk-based Limnological Institute. "The
nerpa is at the summit of the Baikal food chain pyramid. If it is
to die, that means the rest of the lake's ecosystem will also be under
threat" said Andrej Sutek, a Czech researcher who spent two years
studying seal behavior on the Ushkanie islands, the last stable resting-place
for seals in the whole lake area.
Environmentalists have been further alarmed by a
recent decree signed by Vladimir Putin liquidating the State Committee
for ecology and the Russian Forestry Committee. The functions of these
agencies are being absorbed by the Ministry of Natural Resources which
will be placed in the contradictory position of at one and the same
time promoting Russia's economic development and protecting the country's
environment. “One of the consequences of that political decision
is that less and less people at the State level will be willing to
do something to protect endangered species, including the nerpa"
said Greenpeace researcher Roman Pukalov.
POACHER
SHOOTING MOTHER SEAL RESCUEING HER PUP. A poacher shoots
a mother seal coming to the rescue of her pup which was
caught in a trap. In April each year, hundreds of illegal
hunters catch up belki (the Russian for baby seals) in a
net , harpoon them to death and sell their snowy-white pelts
on local markets for 40 dollars a piece. Credit: V.Velengurin/Moscoop
|
Several factors have contributed
to the decline in the nerpa population. Poaching, first and
foremost. In April each year, hundreds of hunters catch up by
the means of traps set in dens- ice and snow covered shelters
built by mother seals-then club them to death and sell their
snowy-white pelts on local markets. Not all the hunting is illegal.
A hunter can buy a licence for one hundred rubles to be given
the right to slaughter a belka (the Russian for Baikal baby
seal). But given the fact that the number of licences officially
issued has been reduced from 6000 to 3500 per year, there are
now a lot more candidates than licences available. As a result,
the price of chapkas (Russian for fur hat) made of belka skins
has soared from 25 to 60 dollars on the Irkutsk market. A hike
which has inevitably stimulated poaching. "We can estimate
at several thousands the number of belkas illegally killed each
year", declared Roman Pukalov.
As a whole, the mortality of Baikal baby seals
has increased two to three fold over the last five years. In
a few districts of the lake area, the offspring survival rate
only reached 80% this year. When the subsequent female belkas
become adult and are able to reproduce, there will be so few
of them left that a sharp decrease in the birth rate will inevitably
occur." |
If nothing is done to curb the poaching, the population
of the nerpa will be on the verge of extinction within the next
5 to 7 years", added the Greenpeace researcher. Illegal hunting
is just one aspect of the problem. It in no way explains for instance
the fact that every year hundreds of nerpas are dying from morbillivirus-linked
diseases. The exact cause of the virus is still being debated. However
a majority of Russian and foreign experts agree that human activities
are making a growing impact on the lake ecosystem.
In
1995, a survey published by Japanese scientists concluded
that the levels of PCB (Polluchlorinated byphenyl) and dioxin
in Lake Baikal are comparable to those currently prevalent
in Lake Superior in the U.S in 1986.
Five
years later, a study by Russian scientists showed that the
levels of PCB and dioxine in the Baikal are now comparable
to those of the highly polluted Baltic sea.
The
origins of the pollutants are diverse. Airborn pollution
is a considerable factor. The coal-fired Usolie Siberskoye
chemical plant which is situated on the Angara river,
upwind from Lake Baikal, is one major source. Another
is the Selenga river, one of the Baikal's 300 tributaries.
Hundreds of industrial and agricultural enterprises discharge
untreated waste materials into the river delta.
Environmental
groups chiefly blame the pollution on the nearby Baikalsk
Pulp and Paper Kombinat (BTsBK). The cellulose mill, situated
between Baikalsk, a city ringed by mountains, and the
southern shore of the lake, disgorges 24 000 tonnes of
toxic waste into Lake Baikal every year . Sulphide, aceton,
sulphate, phenol, chloride and dioxines are among the
32 heavy-weight pollutants poured by the plant into the
fresh waters of the lake throughout the year.
|
SLAUGHTERED
MOTHER SEAL. Lake Baikal, April 2001. A poacher showing
his gruesome trophy: a mother seal shot down after she came
to the rescue of her pup caught in a net set in a den-ice
and snow covered shelter. In April each year, hundreds of
illegal hunters slaughter up to 10 000 Baikal baby seals
and sell their snowy-white pelts on local markets for 40
dollars a piece. Credit: V.Velengurin/Moscoop
|
"24, 000 tonnes that is a mere 1% of the total
volume of the lake" said Raissa Zaikova, the deputy chief engineer
of BTsBK.. "From an engineer's stand point, that's not a lot.
The lake contains such a huge ecosystem that it has the ability
of regenerating itself" she added.
"That is absolutely wrong" retorted Jennifer
Sutton, an Englishwoman who has been living in the Baikal region for
these last 26 years and who helped found the Baikal Environmental
Wave. "Even a low level of toxic substances in the actual water
are subsequently magnified in the lake's Biota, its living animal
organisms" she said.
The
Baikal Pulp & Paper Mill's drainage pipe disgorging
foul waste-charged waters into Lake Baikal. Credit : S.
Hutchinson
|
As an exemple, she
evokes a small organism called Epishura, a tiny mollusc which
contributes a very high percentage of the biomass of the lake.
It is endemic to Lake Baikal and found nowhere else in the world.
“Laboratory experiments carried out by Russian scientists
have shown that it can’t even survive being in water that
is not part of the Baikal ecosystem. This means that even if
the pollutants disgorged by the plants represent 1% of the lake,
it is enough to kill the epishura and thus finally to kill Lake
Baikal itself” concluded Jennifer Sutton.
The mill's management remains adamant. It insists
on the fact that even before the plant was built, ecology had
always been its top priority. Military imperatives initially
dictated the construction of the mill. At the beginning of the
50s, the overall performance of Warsaw Pact planes lagged sorely
behind those of NATO. One of the reasons was that the USSR was
unable to manufacture reliable cords for aircraft tyres. For
this purpose, it was officially decided to set up BTsBK on the
shore of Lake Baikal . "Why Lake Baikal? It was the only
place in the whole country which combined all the necessary
conditions for the production of cords: wood, lots of it, electricity,
railway links and most important of all, water whose composition
would not vary along the year", remembered Raissa Zaikova. |
It took not less than 10 years for the project to
be executed. Ecological organizations, which had already been tolerated
in the Baikal region under the Soviet authorities, fiercely opposed
the plan. The film director Guerassimov even made a film showing how
local residents stood up to fight the construction of BTsBK.
"This one of the reasons why when the mill was
finally built between 1962 and 1966, strict measures to protect the
environment were taken. It was decided to set up several stages of
gas and waste water purification. Still today, the Kombinat has one
station for biological treatment, two for chemical and one for mechanical
treatment. Its only after the waste materials have been thus purified
that the plant's waste waters are discharged into the lake. At this
stage, it is very close to having the quality of drinking water",
Raissa Zaikova emphatically declared .
An opinion which is not shared by everyone. "The
last collection pond where the treated water stands before entering
Baikal stinks. I wouldn’t drink it and I know no one that ever
would" observed Jennifer Sutton.
Environmentalists agree on considering the official
data on the plant's retreated waters as unreliable. For what reason?
The state monitoring system has broken down and scientists no longer
possess the capability to take regular samples from the lake. "The
mill does not have the equipment to detect and eliminate dioxins.
This is to be explained by its antiquated method of production. During
the bleaching process (when wood is transformed into paper pulp) highly
toxic organo-chlorine by-products (which are commonly called dioxins)
are formed. Officially, the dioxins are entirely burnt up in the furnace
and none of them are left when the treated water of the plant is poured
into the Baikal" the director of Baikal Environmental Wave stated.
The truth might not be so rosy. "Even if the
waste is burnt, the dioxins which combine with particles are recreated
during the cooling process which occurs in the chimney. This is due
to the plant's outdated technology. The furnace can't even reach 1000
degrees, the temperature necessary to eliminate all toxic wastes"
said Olga Gamerova, a biologist from Baikalsk. Once recreated, the
dioxins fall into the ash, leave the mill through the waste water
facility and are poured out into the Baikal with the treated waters
of the plant.
The
dioxins are then eaten by the lakes plankton which are then
eaten by small fish and moluscs. The concentration of the
pollutants builds up from one level to the next all along
the food chain. This how at its apex the nerpa gets fatally
contaminated.
Most
of the lake residents nevertheless continue to believe
that the epidemic which kills the seals has nothing to
do with the plant. "The press has made of this factory
the symbol of the nerpas' death, but what can the links
between the dead nerpas of the northern part of the lake
and the mill which is situated nearly 500 miles away be
?" asked Yevgeny Starostenko, the director of the
Baikalsk based touristic agency Airis.
A
recent study undertaken by Russian scientists has nevertheless
shown that there is a range of contamination in the lake.
The PCBs rate is 5,2 in the southern part of the lake where
the mill is situated, and 2,5 in the northern basin.
|
A
Russian scientist taking a sample from the fat of a seal.
A worrying build-up of poisonous dioxins in the fatty tissues
of the seals has recently been observed. Credit: Greenpeace
Russia.
|
"Sick seals were brought down from the north
by Russian scientists and place in one aquarium with healthy from
Listvyanka Scientific Institut. They all died” said Jennifer
Sutton.
This experiment matched another one carried out by
two Dutch scientists. They put two groups of seals together in an
aquarium, one fed on PCB and dioxin contaminated fish and the other
with fish from relatively clean waters. The experiment showed that
these pollutants lower the seals' immunity to infection. The scientists
were able to determine the weakening by observing changes at cell
level.
"One can say that given the fact that there
are high levels of these contaminants in the Baikal seal and given
the fact that the experiment made by the Dutch proved that these contaminants
weaken the immune system in marine mammals, once can say that it is
most likely that the weakened immune system in the nerpa is a non-negligeable
factor if the seal is infected by a virus" concluded Jennifer
Sutton.
A
sick baby seal basking on the ice of Baikal Lake in an area
where the Baikalsk pulp and paper mill disgorges 24 000 tonnes
of pollutants. Crédit: V.Velengurin/Moscoop
|
To put an end to
the nerpas woes, her organization, Baikal Environmental Wave,
but also global NGO Greenpeace, both recommend the immediate
closure of the plant. "The ecological consequences would
be much greater in such a case, than what we're facing today.
The main risk being that Baikalsk city garbage would be poured
into the lake without being retreated, as all the municipal
wastewaters transit through the mill’s treatment stations”
the director of the Baikalsk-based touristic agency Airis Yevgeny
Starostenko declared.
A quite convincing, if not decisive argument
for not closing the mill. The environmentalists nevertheless
disagree: “Naturally new wastewater treatment facilities
must be built or those of the mill should be adapted to take
only municipal wastewaters” Jennifer Sutton suggested.
"That’s well and good, but such a project would cost
several million dollars. Where’s the funding to come from?
During most of the 90s, the plant’s production fell down
from 80% to 50% of its total capacity. It’s just recovering
a bit now, but it remains handicapped by the fact that it is
still subsidizing most of Baikalsk city’s social sphere”
retorted BTsBK deputy chief engineer Raissa Zaikova. The plant
indeed still bears the burden of the Soviet Heritage. It not
only continues paying 80% of the city’s taxes. It also
finances kindergardens, schools, hospitals, even nearby holidays
centers. |
"That’s why the closure of BTsBK would
have such a catastrophic social impact. Out of a total population
of 17 000, 3100 people work at the plant. This means there practically
isn't one family in Baikalsk which is not financially dependent on
the Kombinat. If you stop it, all those people would be jobless and
their
families would probably starve" added Raissa Zaikova.
"I do not agree. It is quite possible to develop
alternative forms of employment" said Olga Gamerova, a biologist
who heads a business incubator which counsels wannabe Baikalsk entrepreneurs.
"One example: this is an area where you will find the highest
density of berries in the whole country. This is due to exceptional
climatic conditions" she said. According to Baikalsk Watch, an
American environmental organization, the Baikal region is second only
to California in total annual solar radiation. In the village of Murino,
18 kms away from Baikalsk, the sun shines an average of 2583 hours
a year. Residents say that at the beginning of summer, it is possible
to find strawberries there as big as your fist.
Olga Gamerovas business incubator helped a local entrepreneur draw
up a business plan to set up a small factory for producing redberry
jams. As a result, he won a loan from the regional fund for the development
of small and medium businesses. The money enabled him to buy the equipment
for manufacturing and packaging the jam. 12 people currently hold
employment in this firm, which markets its production all over the
country.
Baikalsk's other potential economic resource is tourism.
The city is not only situated by the lake shore but is also
ringed by imposing 2000 m. mountains. The Kombinat which
ten years ago built a ski station there, recently updated
its lifts and built a Swiss-style complex of restaurants
and hotels. Since then, the Baikalsk ski station has become
one of the favorite holidays resorts for Irkutsk nouveaux
riches. Its revenues now represent 20% of the mill's total
turnover.
"Those examples clearly show that it is possible to
stop the plant and to create alternative source of income.
But the local authorities have done nothing during the last
five years to prepare Baikalsk's population for a change
in work. Financing training programmes doesn't require as
much money as they say it would. Part of the problem comes
from the fact that until recently some of the regional administration's
top officials were shareholders at the mill. This is why
during all those years they chose to turn a blind eye to
the nerpas' contamination" wrily concluded Jennifer
Sutton.
Samuel Hutchinson.
|
A
group of seals sunbathing on the Ushkanie islands, the last
stable resting place for seals within the whole lake area.
Crédit : Moscoop
|
|
