Authorities report hundreds of dead seals on the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan

On November 7, more than one hundred dead seals were found on the Caspian Sea shore by local authorities. Seven days after Serikkali Brekeshev, minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources announced that the reason for the incident is most likely hydrogen sulfide emission.

According to the official, there were 141 dead seals. The ministry has already established a special commission to investigate the incident.

«We took all necessary analyses and examined the bodies of those seals. Now we have to dispose of the bodies of dead seals. We will receive the results of these analyses in one month,» Brekeshev said.

The minister believes that the seals were killed by the emission of hydrogen sulfide or other dangerous gas. He also said that there are more than 300,000 seals on the Caspian Sea in general.

Currently, the ministry is working on a new national reserve on the seashore. Also, a new state research institute for the Caspian Sea problems and biodiversity is set to be established in Kazakhstan.

Earlier this year, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev touched on the problem of Kazakhstan’s diminishing seal population and promised to take control of the issue himself.