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About 2,500 seals have been found dead on the Caspian Sea coast in southern Russia, said the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Republic of Dagestan on Sunday.
Authorities in the Russian province of Dagestan said it was unclear why the mass die-off happened but that it was likely due to natural causes.
Bodies of dead seals are seen on the Caspian Sea shore, Dagestan, December 4, 2022. /CFP
Regional officials initially reported Saturday that 700 dead seals were found on the coast, but the ministry later raised the figure to about 2,500.
Zaur Gapizov, head of the Caspian Environmental Protection Center, said in a statement that the seals likely died a couple of weeks ago. He added that there was no sign that they were killed or caught in fishing nets.
Journalists and Inter-district Environmental Prosecutor's Office employees walk near the dead seals on the Caspian Sea shore, Dagestan, December 4, 2022. /CFP
Experts of the Federal Fisheries Agency and prosecutors inspected the coastline and collected data for laboratory research, which didn't immediately spot any pollutants.
Several previous incidents of mass seal deaths were attributed to natural causes. Kazakhstan, which has a long Caspian coastline, reported at least three such incidents this year.
Data about the number of seals in the Caspian vary widely. The fisheries agency has said the overall number of Caspian seals is 270,000 to 300,000, while the Caspian Environmental Protection Center put the number at 70,000.
(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)
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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466