MOSCOW – Russian authorities yesterday said they are investigating the mysterious deaths of nearly 300 endangered seals discovered washed up on the shores of the Caspian Sea.
Between Sunday and Thursday, 272 dead Caspian seals were found in a number of locations in the southern region of Dagestan, including its regional capital, Makhachkala, and Derbent, another major city, said state fisheries agency Rosrybolovstvo.
Some of the seals were pregnant.
An agency spokesman told AFP that more dead seals could yet be discovered.
A team of experts has arrived from here to help conduct an investigation.
The fisheries agency said “infectious disease” as well as “external” reasons could be behind the mass die-off, and an animal abuse probe will be launched.
The Caspian Sea, the world’s largest inland body of water, is bounded by five countries: Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan.
Seals have for decades suffered from overhunting, and the effects of industrial pollution in the sea.
Experts have said there are now about 70,000 Caspian seals, down from more than a million in the early 20th century.
As well as the seals and other endemic species, including the famed beluga sturgeon, the Caspian Sea boasts vast energy reserves.
Pollution from the extraction of oil and gas there, and declining water levels due to climate change pose a threat to many species and put the future of the sea itself at risk.
The United Nations Environment Programme has warned that the Caspian Sea “suffers from an enormous burden of pollution”. – AFP, December 12, 2020
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