Hundreds of Dead Caspian Seals in Kazakhstan

In the first half of May 2023, employees of Fish Inspection Department for the Mangistau Region, Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Fisheries Inspectorate, found several dozen dead seals and sturgeons stranded on the sea coast, near Bautino. A special commission collected biological samples from animals, as well as air and water samples. According to Press Service at the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan, this fact was registered (No. 234752030300589 dated May 12, 2023) by the Tyubkaragan District Police Department for the Mangistau Region, and during the pre-trial investigation, the causes of the Caspian seals mass mortality would be found out.

Unfortunately, this case of the dead Caspian seals stranding was not the only one. From March to early June 2023, 343 dead seals were found, including 73 white coat pups, on the section of the Caspian coast controlled by Fish Inspection Department for the Mangistau Region, Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Fisheries Inspectorate.

In the top photo credited by N. Shumeyko: the Caspian Sea coast, the Tyub-Karagan Peninsula.