nearly 2,000 seals of an endangered species dead in one month

A total of 1,989 dead seal carcasses were discovered.

Nearly 2,000 corpses of Caspian seals, a species threatened with extinction in Kazakhstan and the only mammal present in this closed sea, were found in less than a month, the authorities of this Central Asian country announced on Wednesday. The reasons for this massacre have not yet been established, in particular due to the advanced level of decomposition complicating the taking of samples according to the Fisheries Committee, dependent on the Ministry of Agriculture. “A total of 1,989 dead seal carcasses were discovered between October 24 and November 18, 2024”, indicated in a press release the Committee for Fisheries, which continues to monitor the coasts.

Several hypotheses put forward

According to a specialist from the Kazakh Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, “pollution of the marine environment could be the probable cause of death” seals, while the Fisheries Committee points the finger “the release of underwater gases by earthquakes”. The results of the analyzes should only be known within three to four months.

A species in decline

The Caspian seal has been included by Kazakhstan and Russia on the red list of rare species threatened with extinction and suffers from poaching as well as pollution.

The Caspian is a closed sea also considered the largest lake in the world with its 371,000 square kilometers – an area larger than that of Germany – and borders five countries (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan).

According to scientists, the alarming drop in water level coupled with the rise in its temperature endangers marine flora and fauna. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the number of these mammals declined by more than 70% in the last century, before increasing again, according to estimates by Kazakh authorities, to around 270,000.