June 11, 2022

An Attack on Sea Life


An Attack on Sea Life
Even a marine life favorite isn't immune from the effects of the war in Ukraine. Pexels, Joe Boyne.

Hundreds of dolphins have recently washed up on the shore of the Black Sea bordering the coast of Russia and Ukraine. Sochi’s Delfa Dolphin Rescue Center has found some 400 deceased dolphins along the coast in recent months, and another 282 dolphins have been found by the Sevastopol Serene Sea Dolphin Rehabilitation Center since the beginning of the year.

Many experts are stunned by this massive loss of life. And its cause is unclear.

The most common explanations are fishing, viral infection, or, most controversially, the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ivan Rusev, an environmentalist in Odessa, said that Russian naval activity is the likely cause behind the mammals' deaths, because naval sonar systems interfere with their hunting patterns. Meanwhile, Atanas Rusev, a Bulgarian scientist, said the wounds on certain dolphins leads him to conclude that both weapons and sonar from the war that are the culprits. In addition, the Turkish Marine Research Foundation has theorized that a combination of noise, pollution, and explosives from the conflict are seriously damaging the ecosystem.

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Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
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Davai! The Russians and Their Vodka

In this comprehensive, quixotic and addictive book, Edwin Trommelen explores all facets of the Russian obsession with vodka. Peering chiefly through the lenses of history and literature, Trommelen offers up an appropriately complex, rich and bittersweet portrait, based on great respect for Russian culture.
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Murder at the Dacha

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Bears in the Caviar

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