Caspian seal (Phoca caspica Gmelin, 1788) and its current status in the Caspian Sea

Öz

Abstract Life history of the Caspian seal and its current situation was investigated. Three of habitats of the Caspian seal were surveyed for the presence of the Caspian seals in 2010 and 2011 in Kazakhstan’s coastal region; Kosa Kenderli, Zmeyiniy Bay and Kosa Tyub Karagan. Kosa Kenderli was found to be a resting place for Caspian seals during seasonal migrations. The investigation and interviews with the fishermen reavealed that Zmeyiniy Bay was not preferred by the seals as a migration habitat due to the human activities near this area and the coastal settlements. During the eight-km survey carried out in the coastal area, six died seals were found in the Kosa Tyub-Karagan region. The specimens were measured and recorded, and the ages of two individuals were determined.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Key words: Caspian seal, Caspian Sea, population, negative factors.

Kaynakça

1. Badamshin, B. (1950) Experience on the seal marking. Priroda 7: 70- 71 (in Russian).
2. Badamshin, B. (1959) Experience of Caspian seals kept in artificial conditions.
3. KASPNİİ Works of Fisheries and Oceanography. Pishepromizdat Publication 15: 111-117 (in Russian). Badamshin, B. (1965) Moulting of Caspian seals. Marine Mammals. Printed by
4. Nauka. Moskow. pp. 87-99 (in Russian). Badamshin, B. (1969) The population of Caspian seal and it’s hunting quantity.
5. Marine Mammals. Printed by Nauka. Moskow. pp. 261-267 (in Russian). Baymukanov, M. (2010) An article about marking of Caspian seals. Available at http://newstravel.kz/news/o-mechenii-kaspijskix-tyulenej/ (accessed 11 July ).
6. Caspian Environment (2011) Available at: www.caspianenvironment.org (accessed 5 May 2012).
7. Caspian Seal (2012) Profile. Available at: www.caspianseal.org/info/scamp.( accessed 12 January 2012)
8. Caspian Seal profile Available at: www.pinnipeds.org (accessed 02 February ) CEP (Caspian Environmental Program) (2002) Executive Summary and Environmantal Quality Objectives. 2: 105, 129, 130.

9. CISS Report (2005) Report for the Caspian Environmental Programme
10. Population size and density distribution of the Caspian seal (Phoca caspica) on the winter ice field in Kazakh waters 2005. Presented at the CEP BISRAG meeting, Almaty, April 25th-26th 2005, pp. 2.
11. Dmitrieva, L., Kondakov, A., Oleynikov, E., Kydyrmanov, A., Karamendin, K., Kasymbekov, E., Baimukanov, M., Wilson, S., Goodman, S. (in preparation) By-catch in illegal fisheries is a major source of mortality for Caspian seals. FAO Country Profile Caspian Sea. Available at: www.fao.org (accessed April ) Final Report Available at: http://81.8.63.74/Downloads/Final_Report%20BSC_Cetacean2010.pdf
12. Fisheries Federal Agency. (2010). Report (No: 825) on hunting of Biologic
13. Resources for 2011 year. Available at: http://www.warandpeace.ru/ru/reports/view/59687/ (accessed 16 June 2011).
14. Geraci, J., Loundsbury, V. (1993) Marine Mammals Ashore, A Field Guide for
15. Strandings. Texas A&M University, Sea Grant College Programme, 305 pp. Hadjiev, D.B., Eybatov, T.M. (1995) Morphologia zybnovo apparata lastonogix.
16. “Dental morphology of Pinnipeds (comparative, age related, applied odonthology of the Caspian seal”. Baku, Elm, pp. 173. Harkonen, T., Jussi, M., Baymukanov, M., Bignert, A., Dmitrieva L., Kasymbekov, Y., Verevkin, M., Wilson, S., Goodman, S. (2008) Pup production and breeding distribution of the Caspian seal (Phoca caspica) in relation to human impacts. Ambio 37 (5): 359.
17. IUCN. (2008) (http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/41669/0) (accessed 25 July 2012).
18. Kaplin, P. (1995) The Caspian: It’s past, present and future. Enclosed Seas and Large Lakes of Eastern Europe and Middle Asia (A. Mandych). Amsterdam:
19. SPS Academic Publ.bv. pp. 71-117. Karpinsky, M. (1992) Aspects of the Caspian Sea benthic ecosystem. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 24: 384-389
20. Khuraskin, L., Pochtoeva, N. (1997) Some reports of the study on the Caspian seal’s biology and its hunting. Fisheries 5: 55-56.
21. Klevezal, G. Kleinenberg, S. (1967) Age determination of Mammals. Nauka,
22. Leonov, A. (1960) Regional Oceanography. Gidrometizdat, Leningrad. 765 p.
23. Mitrofanov, I. (2007) Brief of the CEP-SAP activities on Biodiversity issues.
24. Caspian Environmental Programme. Presentation Pdf. 18 p. Randall, R.R, Brent, S., Stewart, S.L. (1992) The Sierra Club Handbook of
25. Seals and Sirenians. Sierra Club, 166 p. Sokolskiy A., Umerbayeva, R., Zaharova, N., Tatarinseva, T., Terlatskaya, O., Labunskaya, Y., Popova, N., Pankov, A. Yelizarenko, M. (2008b) Changes and Current Situation of Hidrologo-Hidrochemical parameters of the Caspian Sea in last 100 years. Current Bioproductivity of the Caspian Sea and The Reasons of the Degradation of the Caspian Seal in last 300 years. Part 1. Astrahan. Poligrafkom: pp. 1-8.
26. Sokolskiy, A., Zaharova, N. (2008) Population and sealing datas of Caspian seal between 1973-1990 years. Current Bioproductivity of the Caspian Sea and The Reasons of the Degradation of the Caspian Seal in last 300 years. Part:7.
27. Astrahan.Poligrafkom. 10 p. Sokolskiy, A., Zaharova, N., Umerbayeva, R., Sokolskaya, Y., Pankov, A.,Popova, N. (2008a) The reasons of the deaths and degradation of the Caspian seal between 1990 and 2008 years. Current Bioproductivity of the Caspian Sea and The Reasons of the Degradation of the Caspian Seal in last 300 years. Part
28. Astrahan. Poligrafkom pp. 2-13. Tonay, A., Dede, A., Özturk, A., Özturk, B., (2010). Cetacean Strandings on the Western Turkish Black Sea Coast Between September 2009-August 2010.
29. Vital Caspian (2006) Graphics, UNEP/GRID-Arendal. Birkeland, Norway. pp.
30. Watanabe, M., Tanabe, S., Tatsukawa, R., Amano, M., Miyazaki, N., Petrov, E., Khuraskin, S. (1999) Contamination and specific accumulation of persistent organochlorines in Caspian Seal (Phoca caspica) from the Caspian Sea, Russia.
31. Arch. Environ. Contam. Toxicol. 37 (3): 396-407. Zenkevich, L. (1963) Biology of the Seas of USSR. Acad. Sci. Publ. Moscow, p.