Head of the laboratory at the Scientific Centre of Microbiology and Virology, Aidyn Kydyrmanov, stated that the cause of death of the seals in the Mangystau region in autumn 2024 was a viral neuroinfection.
According to the «Kazinform» news agency, researchers found traces of the virus in the brain and lung tissue of the dead animals.
«The virus was present in all samples. It is a viral neuroinfection. Detecting the virus in the animals' brains proves that this is the sole cause of the disease», the statement reads.
According to Kydyrmanov, this viral infection develops against a background of immunodeficiency. He noted that the disease, characteristic of marine mammals, has not yet been sufficiently studied by the scientific community.
Let us recall that in spring 2024, it was reported that the bodies of dead seals 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 of 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 department found 12 seal carcasses. Later, the fisheries inspectorate department of the Mangystau region 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 on the Caspian Sea coast. According to local blogger Azamat Sarsenbaev, the incident occurred after storms. It was noted that many of the dead animals had mechanical damage on their bodies.
Incidentally, 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.
Later, specialists from the Department of Ecology of the Mangystau region reported that they had analysed the water composition on the Caspian Sea shore and found no anomalous deviations.
In early November, scientists discovered 426 dead seals on the coast of the Tubkaragan peninsula. Research fellow at the «Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology», Assel Baimukanova, reported the preliminary results of the study of the seals that died in the Caspian Sea.
At the same time, ecologist and founder of the Central Asian Institute for Environmental Research (CAIER), Assel Tasmagambetova, stated that the population of the Caspian seal has declined by 90% over the last 100 years. Tasmagambetova said that today there are fewer than 100,000 individuals.
In mid-November, the Fisheries Committee suggested that the cause of the mass death of seals on the Caspian Sea coast could be natural phenomena, including releases of natural gases as a result of underwater earthquakes.