According to the authorities, around 1,700 dead seals have been discovered on the southern Russian coast on the Caspian Sea. They probably died of natural causes, the authorities in the province of Dagestan said. The authorities initially stated that 700 seals were found dead on the coast on Saturday.
However, the head of the Caspian Sea Environmental Protection Center Saur Gapisov said on Sunday, according to the state news agency Ria Novosti, that after a closer inspection it was 1700. The animals probably died a few weeks ago.
According to the Russian Fisheries Agency, there are 270,000 to 300,000 seals in the Caspian Sea. The Environmental Protection Center assumes 70,000. The Caspian seal is an endangered species and is under special protection. According to animal rights activists, their population has declined by around 90 percent over the past 100 years – also because of the increasing pollution of the Caspian Sea, where oil is extracted, for example. According to experts, the animals are dying from oil leaks, poaching and overfishing.
