Poachers suspected in deaths of 218 seals on Caspian seashore

Kazakh authorities have begun a criminal investigation into the deaths of 218 seals found on the shore of the Caspian Sea near Bautinskaya Spit in northeastern corner of Kazakhstan, RIA Novosti reports. A commission has also been formed to analyze samples taken from the tissue of the animals, as well as from the surrounding sand and water to determine the cause of their deaths.

Imprints from netting found on the bodies of the seals point to the involvement of poachers in their deaths. The dead animals had been on the isolated shore since the winter, border inspectors say. The value of the seals has been set at about $85,000, and the punishment for causing their deaths could be up to five months of corrective labor.

More often, seals in the Caspian Sea fall victim to poisoning, however. Mass deaths of seals are becoming more common in the Caspian Sea, Gazeta.kz notes. Poisoning by crude oil, petroleum products and pesticides lower the seals’ immunity and leads to fatal infections. In 2000, about 30,000 seals died in the Caspian.

In 2007, 1,000 seals in Kazakhstan fell victim to a flesh-eating virus near the Kashagan offshore oil field. Agip KCO, a subsidiary of the Italian company Eni, was accused of causing their deaths through insufficient environmental protection measures. Another 240 oil wells will be drilled off the shore of Kazakhstan, according to plans.

Other wildlife is affected by the same factors. In 2001, 250,000 tons of anchovies, 40 percent of the total reserve in the Caspian, were annihilated. Petroleum products and heavy metals were found in the dead fish. In 2006, 2000 sturgeon died under similar circumstance.