An animal rescue group said 61 dead cetaceans - an order of aquatic mammals that includes whales and dolphins - had been recorded since the oil spill.

Dozens of sea mammals have been found dead since last month's Russian oil tanker spill in the Black Sea, a dolphin rescue centre said Sunday, as authorities raced to contain the disaster. Russia's Delfa centre,

Oil from two ageing and damaged Russian tankers was detected Friday off the coast of Sevastopol, the largest city in Moscow-annexed Crimea, a local official said.

A dolphin rescue center in Russia says 32 dolphins have died since fuel oil spilled out of two storm-stricken tankers three weeks ago in the Kerch Strait near the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula

In a heartbreaking scene, some 32 dolphins have washed up on a beach near Russia. The cause for this tragedy was down to a major oil spill with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it an "ecological disaster".