Sam Amico
More than 2,000 seals, and counting, have been discovered dead on the Caspian Sea coast in southern Russia, officials said, via the Associated Press.
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It is believed the animals died of natural causes — but beyond that, little is known.
At first, 700 dead seals were found on the coast. That was Saturday. One day later, at least another 1,000 were reported. Reports suggest they actually died a few weeks ago, and as far as anyone can tell, poachers weren’t involved.
If that’s the case, it’s likely safe to assume there may have been something in the water.
2,000 Dead Seals Discovered on Russia’s Caspian Coast
But so far, Federal Fishery Agency experts have not spotted any pollutants after inspecting the coastline and collecting data, per the AP.
This isn’t the first time there have been mass deaths of seals, and the last several have indeed been attributed to natural causes. Why they tend to die at the same time, however, seems to remain a mystery.
Experts have indicated there are anywhere from 70,000 to 300,000 seals in the Caspian. Many believe the number falls somewhere in between that large gap of estimates.
CNN and NBC each reported that as of Monday, about 2,500 dead seals had washed ashore.
