Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk hosted the seventh Oceans Day environmental festival with the support of the Sakhalin-1 Project. This environmental education event is dedicated to World Maritime Day and is traditionally celebrated at the end of September. Visitors learnt about what everyone can do to protect the fragile marine ecosystem.

The World Ocean is one of the largest ecosystems on the planet, a source of oxygen and a sink for carbon dioxide. 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water. More than 2 million species of different organisms live in rivers, lakes, seas and oceans: invertebrates, fish, mammals, birds and many others.

Visitors took part in various educational stations, where they learnt about the ‘ABC of marine mammals’, drew their own whale, learnt about the impact of human activity on animal habitats and how to protect the sea from waste. The most popular were the stations ‘Inhabitants of the sea depths’ and ‘Let's get acquainted with seals’, ‘Pacific Eagle’, where everyone could learn about rare species of fish, mammals and birds of the Pacific coast of Russia.

Environment protection is an integral part of Rosneft Oil Company's corporate culture and social responsibility. The Company's activities are based on the principle of preserving a favourable environment and biodiversity in all regions of its presence. A number of initiatives are aimed at studying and restoring rare animal species, including environmental education activities and the development of responsible attitudes towards the use of natural resources.

The monitoring programme for the population of grey whales in the Sea of Okhotsk has been implemented in the north-eastern part of Sakhalin Island for 27 years. Scientists have found that the population is growing, with more than 350 individuals counted to date. Annually, scientists count the number of mammals, observe their behaviour and study their forage base, carry out photo-identification studies and acoustic monitoring. All studies involve the country's leading scientific organisations.

The Company developed a new research programme in 2024, which was positively reviewed by experts from the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The scientists, together with specialists from the Company, will monitor the grey whales throughout the voyage until the Sea of Okhotsk is ice-free and the whales return to their wintering grounds.

Rosneft
Information and Advertising Department
September 25, 2024

Keywords: Environmental news 2024