Deputy Chief of the Department of Environment for marine ecosystems Davood Mirshekar said that deaths have been seen among Caspian seals in recent years, adding that recently 170 seals washed up dead in the Russian shores of the Caspian Sea.
He said that the department was in correspondence with Russia through Iran’s Foreign Ministry to find out the reason behind the deaths, hoping that the Russian side would soon deliver proper answer.
Iran is developing a national plan of action to protect the endangered species so that measures in this regard become integrated and coordinated among different national agencies and NGOs, Mirshekar stated.
Among challenges endangering Caspian seals, Mirshekari named fishing, industrial contamination entering the Caspian Sea, spread of pathogens especially viruses, hunting Caspian seals, reduction of ice level, moving of icebreakers in breeding places, lack of preserved coasts for sealsو and unawareness among fishers.
He also said that Iran has established a search and rescue center for Caspian seals which is active in regional level.
A 2006 statistics estimated the population of Caspian seals to be 100,000 but they have become a critically endangered species as their population he decreased by 90 percent.
Caspian seals are the only mammal species in the sea and play an important role in ecologic balance.
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