The water in its bays, once so blue and clear, is no longer clean and – truth be told – often smells quite badly.

The deterioration of the marine environment which so affects this city has lead to a dramatic fall in the number of marine organisms at all levels – from bacteria to fish and dolphins. Oil spills, and the not inconsiderable level of pollution from the city itself, have helped turn the water murky and driven down oxygen levels. Things are so bad that even mussels, which are generally well adapted to living in dirty water, are suffering. Not to mention sturgeon and caviar!

And what about tourism? It is quite common for at least two public beaches to close for hygiene reasons at the height of the tourist season. The water on these beaches can only support dangerous bacteria and viruses, no other life.

Of course I am too young to teach those big people in their ministries how to do their jobs. To be completely honest, I’m not even sure how to tackle the problem. Maybe the removal of the Black Sea Fleet which is based in Sevastopol might be a start. This would also be a good thing from an aesthetic point of view: the view from Komsomol Square down to the South Bay would no longer be obscured by submarines and destroyers.

Also, the people of Sevastopol should do the right thing and pay their municipal taxes in full and on time. Maybe then pipes will be less likely to rust and burst, spilling their unsavoury contents all over our city and into the sea.

Some international efforts are under way to clean up our Black Sea, but it will be a long time before we see the results of these plans. In the meantime we can only hope that the preservation of truly green cities on the Black Sea coast will be an issue not only for biologists and ecologists.