The fisheries committee suggests that the mass die-off of seals on the coast of the Caspian Sea in the Tupkaragan district of the Mangystau region could have been caused by natural phenomena, including the release of natural gases due to underwater earthquakes.
"During monitoring and joint work with scientific organisations such as the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, the Centre for the Study and Rehabilitation of Seals, and the Research and Production Centre of the Research Institute of Microbiology and Virology, a partial selection of tissues from the dead animals was carried out for further research", the press service of the Ministry of Agriculture reported.
Specialists will make final conclusions about the causes of the animals' deaths after the completion of laboratory studies, which, according to scientists, will take 3-4 months.
"Employees of the Committee for Veterinary Control and Supervision also took samples of pathological material, which are currently being tested for infectious diseases at the National Veterinary Reference Centre in Astana. As of 13 November 2024, all samples tested by PCR for pasteurellosis, avian influenza, canine distemper, salmonellosis and listeriosis have shown negative results", the statement said.
It will be recalled that from 24 October to 13 November, specialists from the Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Basin Fisheries Inspectorate discovered 1,034 seal carcasses washed ashore on the Caspian coast in the Tupkaragan district.
It is noted that cases of mass seal die-offs in the Caspian Sea have been recorded since the early 2000s. In particular, in 2000, scientists identified around 10,000 dead individuals. At that time, the cause of death was attributed to chronic toxicosis.
In the spring of this year, it was reported that dead seal bodies were periodically being found on the shore of the Caspian Sea. The first reports of dead animals appeared on 29 March. At that time, employees of the fisheries inspectorate in the Mangystau region discovered 62 carcasses of dead seals during monitoring in the Tupkaragan district.
On 25 April, in the Tupkaragan district of the Mangystau region, employees of the fisheries inspectorate found 12 seal carcasses. Later, the Mangystau region fisheries inspectorate reported that between 29 March and 25 April 2024, 182 dead seals were found on the shore of the Caspian Sea.
At the end of October, more than 150 dead seals were washed ashore in the Tupkaragan district. According to local blogger Azamat Sarsenbayev, the incident occurred after storms. It was noted that many of the dead animals had mechanical injuries on their bodies.
Later, specialists from the Department of Ecology of the Mangystau region reported that they had analysed the water composition on the shore of the Caspian Sea and found no anomalous deviations.
At the beginning of November, scientists discovered 426 dead seals on the coast of the Tubkaragan peninsula. Research associate at the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, Assel Baimukanova, reported on the preliminary results of studies of the seals that died in the Caspian Sea.
Later, ecologist and founder of the Central Asian Institute for Environmental Research (CAIER), Assel Tasmagambetova, stated that over the last 100 years, the Caspian seal population has declined by 90%. Tasmagambetova said that today there are fewer than 100,000 individuals.