Conservationists are watching a mysterious mass extinction of seals and seabirds off the coast of Sakhalin Island in Russia’s Far East. About 300 carcasses of fur seals and other marine mammals have been found on the small island of Tyuleni, according to Boomerang conservation organization in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
Dead seals, porpoises and birds such as guillemots were also found elsewhere on the 950 kilometer long island of Sakhalin in the Sea of Okhotsk. Experts from the regional environmental and veterinary authorities took samples to find out what caused the mass death, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
Water poisoning excluded
“The symptoms we have seen speak for a disease,” said Boomerang leader Valentina Mezentseva on Sakhalin TV. Since no dead fish were found, poisoning of the water has been ruled out, reports the portal citysakh.ru.
According to reports, Boomerang employees and a group of Friends of the Ocean were on the island for an expedition just a few days ago. At that point, the animals made amends and freed about 150 fur seals from the remains of their nets and ropes. On the second visit to the island, they found only hundreds of animals dead or dead on the beach.
Source: Krone
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