2,500 Caspian seals found dead along Russian coastline - The Guardian

About 2,500 seals person been recovered dormant connected the Caspian Sea seashore successful confederate Russia, officials said connected Sunday.

Regional officials initially reported connected Saturday that 700 dormant seals had been recovered connected the coast, but the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment aboriginal raised the fig to astir 2,500.

Authorities successful the Russian state of Dagestan said it was unclear wherefore the wide deaths happened but that it was apt owed to earthy causes.

Data astir the fig of seals successful the Caspian alteration widely. The fisheries bureau has said the wide fig of Caspian seals is 270,000-300,000, portion the Caspian Environmental Protection Center enactment the fig astatine 70,000.

Caspian seals are classified arsenic endangered connected the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reddish list.

Zaur Gapizov, caput of the Caspian Environmental Protection Center, said successful a connection that the seals apt died a mates of weeks ago. He added that determination was nary motion that they were killed oregon caught successful sportfishing nets.

Experts astatine the Federal Fisheries Agency and prosecutors inspected the coastline and collected information for laboratory research, which didn’t instantly spot immoderate pollutants. Officials are present awaiting laboratory trial results.

Several erstwhile incidents of wide seal deaths person been attributed to earthy causes. Kazakhstan, which has a agelong Caspian coastline, reported astatine slightest 3 specified incidents this year.