Over 2,500 endangered seals wash up on Russian coast

A top Russian environmental official said seals may have likely died from oxygen deprivation

RH Desk
December 6

More than 2,500 dead seals have washed up on the coast of the Caspian Sea in Russia’s Dagestan region, officials in Russia said.

Officials on Monday said the cause of the deaths was not immediately clear and tests were being carried out to establish the reason behind these deaths.

However, a top Russian environmental official said seals may have likely died from oxygen deprivation, a news report said.

Svetlana Radionova of the natural resources watchdog agency Rosprirodnadzor said on Russian state television that hypoxia is being seen as the most likely cause and she said that scientists are investigating whether natural gas emissions in the Caspian could account for low oxygen.

The Caspian Sea has extensive natural gas reserves that are being tapped increasingly.

Radionova said a similar mass death of seals — about 2,000 — was recorded in Dagestan and neighboring Azerbaijan in 2000.

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