Mass die-off of Caspian seals occurs due to lack of real control - expert

The number of dead seals in the Caspian Sea has reached 200. The results of examination have not been disclosed yet. Adilbek Kozybakov, well-known environmentalist, member of the Public Council of the Ecology Ministry and regional ecology council of ECOJER Association for Mangystau region, shared his view on the situation, Kazinform News Agency reports.

According to him, the death of the mammals is a normal phenomenon.

“The die-off of the seals is observed every year. This is a natural life process. As the number of animals increases, so does the number of deaths. One per cent of 100,000 seals is equal to 1,000. This is normal. Thus, 179 seals which died last month is not so much. The problem is that it occurs due to lack of appropriate supervision and control,” Adilbek Kozybakov says.

In his words, independent experts should be attracted to the monitoring works, which will enable to provide more information in a timely manner. This information should be published in social media.

“We cannot prohibit people sharing their thoughts, that, probably they [seals - edit] "were ill” or, probably, “oil spill occurred”. We cannot prohibit to publish such 'hints', which occurs due to lack of information. To avoid such situations, we need to attract independent experts,” he said adding that these experts shall not depend from government financing and shall not be paid from the budget.