Kazakhstan said Wednesday that almost 2,000 seal carcasses on its Caspian Sea shores in under a month, raising new concerns over the endangered species.
The Central Asian country has reported sporadic mass deaths of the seals -- the only mammals to live in the Caspian Sea, which is the world's biggest inland body of water.
Some scientists have linked the deaths to pollution in the sea, which has seen a drop in water levels as rising temperatures threaten its flora and fauna.
"In total, 1,989 dead seals were discovered between October 24 and November 18 2024," said Kazakhstan's fishing committee, which is in charge of the country's fauna.
According to a specialist from Kazakhstan's Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, "the pollution of the marine environment could be a possible cause of the deaths."
The fishing committee, however, blamed "underwater gasses" that it said were released after marine earthquakes.
Kazakhstan is conducting tests on the dead seals to determine the cause of death, but authorities said the results will only be known in three to four months.
Kazakhstan and Russia, which also has a Caspian shoreline, have placed the seals on a red list of endangered species.
Kazakhstan has said the population of the seals has dwindled to 270,000 in recent years.
The Caspian Sea is an enclosed sea bordering five countries: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. All have periodically reported discovering dead seals on their shores.