2 Caspian Seals Found Dead

Over the past five days, two seals have been found dead on the shores of the Caspian Sea in Gilan Province.  

The first carcass was found in Bandar Anzali last Wednesday and the other was spotted near Boujagh National Park in Kiashahr County, the Department of Environment's news portal reported. According to Rahman Pour-Hossein, the director of Boujagh National Park, the dead Caspian Seal on the shore of Bandar Anzali was a mature male, but it was not possible to determine the main cause of death due to the poor condition of the carcass.

The second animal was spotted by park rangers of the national park during their daily patrol.

"Apparently, the sea mammal had died of old age, as there was no sign of injury," he said, adding that the body was sent to Gilan's office of DOE for further examination and necropsy.  

Caspian Seals are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Confined to the Caspian Sea, the species is native to Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. According to the latest estimate, some 100,000 Caspian Seals currently live in this sea.

They live throughout the sea, undertaking seasonal migration across the southern, middle and northern basins. Almost all breeding takes place on ice, which covers the shallow northern parts of the Caspian Sea from late December to early April.

Iran's DOE has also listed this species as protected and initiated a series of conservation measures in the past few years, such as raising awareness among local fishing communities to release rather than kill live animals found entangled in fishing gears and establishing a coastal seal rehabilitation facility.