Around 2,500 dead seals were found off the Russian coast of the Caspian Sea, officials said Sunday.
The reason behind the stunning mass death was unclear, authorities within the Russian province of Dagestan said, speculating it was likely because of natural causes.
Initial regional reports Saturday said 700 dead seals were found off the coast before the number later ballooned to 2,500, based on the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
In an announcement, Zaur Gapizov, head of the Caspian Environmental Protection Center, said the seals were likely dead for a pair weeks. There was no sign they were killed or tousled in fishing nets, he said.
Federal Fisheries Agency experts and prosecutors examined the coastline and picked up data for lab research, which didn’t immediately spot any pollutants.
Mass seal deaths connected to natural causes will not be unheard of.
Kazakhstan, which has a protracted Caspian coastline, reported there have been at the least three similar incidents this 12 months.
The variety of seals within the Caspian range from about 70,000, based on the Caspian Environmental Protection Center, to as much as 300,000, the fisheries agency has reported.
With Post wires