KAZAKHSTAN INVESTIGATES DEATH OF SEALS

UNCLAS ASTANA 001063

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON SENV ENRG EPET KZ
SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN INVESTIGATES DEATH OF SEALS



1. Summary: Nearly 700 dead seals have been found on the shores of
the Caspian Sea in Kazakhstan's Mangystau Oblast since the end of
March. Kazakhstan's Ministry of Environment has established an
interagency commission to investigate the deaths, but no final
conclusions have been reached. Local ecologists claimed that an
early ice melt caused the deaths, a theory supported by the Ministry
of Environment. In its preliminary report, however, the Ministry of
Education attributed the deaths to a virus outbreak. The Mangystau
Oblast is the center of Kazakhstan's petroleum operations, but no
evidence exists linking the deaths to toxic emissions from the oil
fields. End summary.


2. On March 30, 21 dead seals were found on the shore of the Caspian
Sea in the Tyupkaragan district of the Mangystau oblast. Similar
discoveries have been made throughout the month of April. By April
25, the number of dead seals had reached 674, including 524 baby
seals, and continues to grow.


3. In early April, an interagency commission established by the
Ministry of Environment traveled to the Mangystau Oblast to
investigate the seal deaths. Local experts blamed the deaths on an
unseasonably warm winter. According to Marat Orynbasarov, Deputy
Head of the Mangystau Department for Environment Protection, seals
usually rear their offspring on ice but were forced to shore this
year because of an early ice-melt. Once ashore, the seals were not
able to find sufficient fodder to feed their calves, leaving them
weak and underfed. On April 10, the Ministry of Environment released
a public statement in which it affirmed that weather was a likely
cause for the seal deaths.


4. A different theory was offered by scientists from the Ministry of
Education and Science's Research Institute for Biological Safety on
April 11. In their preliminary report, the scientists posited that
Phocine Distemper Virus, or "seal plague," may be the cause of the
deaths. The virus killed 12,000 seals in the Caspian in 2000. The
interagency commission investigating the deaths has not yet endorsed
either theory and continues its inquiry.


5. Some experts also believed that the deaths might be connected to
the discharge of pollutants because of the significant petroleum
extraction activity in the Mangystau Oblast. In April 2006, 337
seals died because of pollutant discharge from Caspian oil wells.
In this instance, however, pollution seems not to have played a
role. The Mangystau regional center for sanitary and
epidemiological control examined the seals and found that no sign of
excessive heavy metals or pesticides in their systems. Seawater
tests also did not reveal any oil products.

ORDWAY