Number of dead seals along Caspian coast rises to 850

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Another 115 carcasses of dead seals have been gathered on the Caspian Sea coast and delivered from the Aktau recreation area to the Kuryk Port, Kazinform News Agency reports.

Thus, the number of dead seals has already reached 850.

According to Andrey Rutskoy, acting chief of Mangistau region’s fishery inspection department, a working group consisting of inspectors, ecologists, local officials and representatives of public associations, is examining the beach. “Rocky beaches are hard to reach. The working group will go there on foot,” he said.

He added that collecting samples from the last seals found is impossible, as the carcasses decomposed at the 3rd and 4th stages. The results of the samples taken at the end of October are not ready yet.

Recall that from October 24 to 28, 289 carcasses of dead seals were discovered by the employees of the Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Fisheries Inspectorate together with the representatives of the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology. Over half of the dead female seals were pregnant, Assel Baimukanova, an operator at the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, said.

In 2020, the Caspian seal was included in Kazakhstan’s Red Book of Endangered Species.