Nearly 170 seals were found dead this week by the Caspian Sea in Russia.

Researchers from the Moscow Marine Mammals Research Center went to photograph and record the GPS coordinates of the dead animals.

On images, we see several carcasses washed up on the beach.

According to Viktor Nikiforov, one of the researchers, the seals were found in an area 100 km south of Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian republic of Dagestan, and in another area about 50 km north of this city. .

At least 170 endangered seals washed up dead over the course of several days on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Russia's republic of Dagestan, researchers said https://t.co/w3T5H1rVnd

- The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) May 6, 2021

Ongoing investigations and verifications

"It may be linked to industrial pollution, fishing or poaching, when seals get caught in the nets, or even the consequences of climate change," said the researcher.

According to him, there should now be a "serious surveillance" of the seals found dead for more than a year to precisely identify the causes of the disaster.

The Russian Federal Fisheries Agency said it had sent inspectors to carry out a new count.

The Russian Investigative Committee has also launched checks.

A very endangered species

The Caspian Sea, the largest closed sea in the world, counted at the beginning of the 20th century more than a million seals (

Pusa caspica

).

Today, only 68,000 adult specimens remain and the species is considered “endangered”.

Once the victim of intense hunting, this marine mammal now suffers from industrial pollution, which makes it sterile in particular.

According to the UN, this pollution is linked to the oil industry, radioactive and industrial waste, or even large volumes of wastewater.

The flora and fauna of the Caspian are also suffering from the drop in sea level caused by climate change, with rising temperatures causing water to evaporate.

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