Agriculture Ministry says seals’ mass die-off in Mangistau caused by weakened immune system
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Agriculture Ministry’s Fisheries Committee suggested weakened immune system is the possible reason for the mass deaths of seals in Mangistau region, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
The Ministry said the Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology is carrying out a post mortem examination of samples taken from dead seals.
The monitoring along the Caspian coast is under way. The fisheries inspection department and local authorities have started works to collect and dispose of dead seals, it added.
The Institute detailed seals died over a month ago and were recently washed up on shores of the Caspian Sea following the western storm winds.
According to expert insights based on years of research, weakened immune system may be a possible cause of a mass die-off of seals, who have not been able to build up resistance to infectious diseases, said the Agriculture Ministry in a statement.
Earlier, it was reported 112 more carcasses of Caspian seals were spotted along the coastline from Asan town to the cape in Bautino.