World Whale and Dolphin Day is celebrated annually on 23 July. The date was established in 1986 to raise awareness of the need to conserve and protect whales, cetaceans and other marine mammals.

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. The study and protection of whale and dolphin populations is one of the areas of the Company's environmental programme.

As part of the environmental monitoring in support of Rosneft's projects, vessel-based observations of all mammals, including whales and dolphins, are conducted. Data on species composition, abundance and occurrence are collected.

One of the main species of interest is the grey whale of the Okhotsk Sea population. The grey whale lives in the Sea of Okhotsk along the north-eastern coast of Sakhalin Island. The species is listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and in the Red List of Treatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

The programme to monitor the grey whale population of the Okhotsk Sea on the north-eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island has been running for 27 years.  Over such a long period of observation, scientists have found that the population is growing, with more than 350 individuals counted to date. The annual monitoring programme for grey whales includes population counts, behavioural and prey observations, photo-identification studies, and acoustic monitoring. All observations 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.

In addition, in 2020 Rosneft, together with the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, implemented a large-scale project to study and monitor dolphins in the Black Sea.
All three species of cetaceans living in the Black Sea are listed in the International Red Book and the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

The results of the three-year study provide up-to-date, relevant data on the numbers, occurrence and preferred habitats of Black Sea dolphins and their seasonal distribution patterns. Guidelines have been developed for the study and conservation of Black Sea cetaceans.

Rosneft Information Division
Rosneft Oil Company
July 23, 2024

Keywords: Environmental news 2024