Over a hundred dead seals on the coast of the Caspian Sea

On Monday, reports began reaching the authorities of the Mangystau Region in southwestern Kazakhstan about seal carcasses found on the beach. In total, 112 dead mammals were counted. This is not the first such catastrophe on the coast of the Caspian Sea and a significant warning about the state of the local ecosystem.

Government explains the situation

The grim discovery was made by residents of the coastal town of Bautino. The case was taken up by the Wildlife Protection Service of the Regional Fisheries Department and the Fisheries Inspection Department of the Mangystau Region. Detailed monitoring of the beach revealed that between the village of Asan and Fort-Shevchenko, the sea had washed ashore 39 dead seals, and another 73 carcasses were found between the fort and Cape Bautino.

Epidemiological services collected water and tissue samples from the dead animals for testing, and a cleanup operation began to remove the remains, which were in an advanced state of decomposition. According to initial reports from the local Department of Ecology, the seals had been dead for at least three to four weeks, and their mass stranding on the beach was linked to a recent storm.

On November 5, 2025, the Fisheries Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan announced, in a statement shared with the portal Modern.az, that the probable cause of death among Caspian seals was weakened immune systems, increasing their susceptibility to infections. The ministry reported that coastal investigations would continue.

A black series on the Caspian coast – who is really to blame?

Unfortunately, the tragedy in Bautino Bay is not the first of its kind. In October and November 2024, around 1,500 dead seals were found on the beaches of the Mangystau Region, with hundreds more reported near the offshore oilfields of Karazhanbas and Kalamkas. The cause of their deaths was never officially determined. Hypotheses included natural processes and complex environmental factors.

Some organizations and experts link the new cases to oil pollution: between May and July 2025, the movement Save the Caspian Sea reported that Sentinel-1 satellites detected oil slicks weekly (in total, dozens of incidents, including in Kazakhstan’s sector). The Kazakh Ministry of Ecology denies this—an interpretative dispute continues, and the authorities have announced inspections.

Caspian seals need protection

The Caspian seal (Pusa caspica) is one of the smallest earless seals, an endemic species of the Caspian Sea, classified as endangered. Its population has declined dramatically—by more than 90 percent since the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to climate change, bycatch, and habitat degradation, Caspian seals are also threatened by canine distemper virus (Morbillivirus), detected in 2000 in over 10,000 dead animals found along the Caspian coast. A team of researchers from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom investigating the event suggested that harmful bacterial and viral pathogens dangerous to seals are increasing as sea temperatures rise.

In summer, the mammals appear in the deltas of the Volga and Ural rivers or migrate south, where deeper waters provide cooler conditions. In autumn and winter, however, they stay along the northern coast, where breeding takes place on ice. In recent years, researchers have warned that combined pressures—warming seas, pollution, and pathogens—may be worsening the population’s condition and could lead to its complete extinction.