Aerial Survey of Caspian Seals in Kazakhstan

On March 12, 2025, specialists from Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Inspectorate of Fisheries, the Akimat of Mangystau Region, Qazaq Balyk Republican Association of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and NGOs, conducted an aerial survey of Caspian seals.

The flight route (shown in Figure 1) ran along the Caspian coast from Aktau to Bautino (the Tyub-Karagan Peninsula). The water area in the north-eastern Caspian Sea were surveyed: from the Bautinskaya Spit to Kulaly Island (the Tyulenyi Islands archipelago) and further to the Cape Burynshik, located on the Buzachi Peninsula. As a result of monitoring, 130-150 Caspian seals were registered on ice floes and in water.

Figure 1. Monitoring of Caspian seals. The Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, March 12, 2025.  The map-scheme credited by Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The flight route also included the western part of the Buzachi Peninsula, where several dozen sivars (month-old Caspian seal pups) were found in late February – early March this year. According to Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Press Service, the researchers did not find any seals at a significant distance from the Caspian coastline, in the steppe on the Buzachi Peninsula, and near settlements.

Source: Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan.
In the top photo: Participants in the aerial survey of Caspian seals. The Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan, March 12, 2025.  The photo credited by Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan.