“The Fisheries Committee assumes that the death of marine animals could be caused by natural phenomena – natural gas emissions due to underwater earthquakes,” reported the department.
Employees of the Zhaiyk-Caspian Interregional Fisheries Inspectorate recorded the mass death of seals on the coast of the Tupkaragan district of the Mangistau region. From October 24 to November 13, 2024, 1,034 seal carcasses were found as part of monitoring the water area. Specialists from scientific organizations, including the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, the Center for the Study and Rehabilitation of Seals, as well as the Research Institute of Microbiology and Virology, took tissue samples for analysis.
According to Asel Baimukanova, a representative of the Institute of Hydrobiology, the cause of death could be water pollution. However, the Fisheries Committee noted that the death of seals could be caused by natural phenomena - emissions of natural gases as a result of underwater earthquakes, which has been observed periodically since the early 2000s. However, the exact reasons will become known in 3-4 months.
Photo source: picture from an open source