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The bodies of about 1,700 seals have been found off the coast of the Caspian Sea in southern Russia, officials said.
The cause of their deaths is unknown so far, but authorities in Russia’s Dagestan province say the animals most likely died of natural causes.
On Saturday, regional officials initially said 700 seal carcasses were found off the coast.
But the head of the Caspian Environmental Protection Center, Zaur Gapizov, said on Sunday that after a wider inspection of the coast, the number of dead seals was actually 1,700, RIA Novosti reported.
The seals are believed to have died weeks ago, he said, adding there was no indication they were killed by poachers.
Experts from the Federal Fisheries Service, together with prosecutors, inspected the coastline and collected data for laboratory studies, which found no contamination.
Interregional Environmental Prosecutor’s Office employees examine bodies found along the coast
Several seal mass die-offs in previous years have been attributed to natural causes.
Figures on the number of seals in the Caspian Sea vary, but fisheries agencies put the number at between 270,000 and 300,000, while Mr Garpizov’s central estimate is 70,000.
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