Dead Caspian Seals, Bautino, Kazakhstan

On May 12, 2023, employees from Fish Inspection Department for the Mangistau Region, Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Fisheries Inspectorate, discovered several dozen dead seals and sturgeons, while monitoring the coast of the Caspian Sea near Bautino in the Tyubkaragan Region.

Representatives from Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Fisheries Inspectorate, Ecology Department for the Mangistau Region, the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, the Research and Production Center for Microbiology and Virology, Kazhydromet, and local executive bodies arrived on the coast. Employees of the Department of Ecology for the Mangistau region and Kazhydromet sampled water and air at the place where dead animals were found. Since the majority of seals and sturgeon were in the stage of late post-mortem changes, it was possible to take biological samples from only a few animals. The Research and Production Center for Microbiology and Virology will assay the samples of internal organs (liver, lungs), the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology will determine the age of dead seals by fangs and claws, and examine samples of their fur.

The Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Fisheries Inspectorate continues to monitor the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea.

Source: The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The photo was credited by the Central Asian Institute for Ecological Research.