The international scientific conference "Caspian Seal: an indicator of the state of the Caspian ecosystem", which took place on November 12-14, 2024 in Makhachkala, at the Caspian Institute of Biological Resources of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was organized by the Theriological Society named after Academician V.E. Sokolov of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the Problems of Ecology of Biological Systems, the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Caspian Institute of Biological Resources of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the State Research Center of the Russian Federation, the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, and was dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
A total of approximately 100 people took part in the conference in person and online. Representatives of more than 20 scientific organizations of the Caspian states - Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as the United Kingdom, noted the high relevance of the conference, during which 49 reports were heard, current scientific data on the state of the Caspian seal and the Caspian ecosystem were discussed, and promising areas of research were outlined. Although, as noted by the conference participants, the total number of Caspian seals in recent years has been quite stable and fluctuates from 274 thousand individuals (2012) to 305 thousand individuals (2024), which indicates a high adaptive potential of the species, ensuring its successful reproduction in a wide range of changes in habitat conditions, the fate of this species, endemic to the Caspian, listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation and protected in other Caspian countries, raises serious concerns. The key role in the deterioration of the Caspian seal's living conditions, including the efficiency of its reproduction, the survival rate of offspring and the availability of food, belongs to the decrease in the level of the Caspian Sea and changes in the ice conditions in the Northern Caspian.
The conference was opened by Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Magomedov M.-R.D. (PIBR DFRC RAS) with a report on the history of comprehensive scientific research of the Caspian Sea, which is currently clearly insufficient. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Rozhnov V.V. (IEE RAS) spoke in detail about the structure of the joint Russian-Kazakh "Program for the Study of the Caspian Seal of the Northern Caspian (2019-2023)" and the results of work on it, noting the inadequacy in general, as well as the disunity of scientific research of the Caspian states on the biology of the seal and the factors determining its condition and the state of the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. To remedy the situation, it was proposed to create a common interactive platform for exchanging information on the Caspian seal and the state of the Caspian ecosystem, providing access to publications on these issues, and to publish a unified methodology for collecting material on the Caspian seal and relevant protocols for obtaining comparable data on the state of its population in waters of different jurisdictions. The conference participants supported the proposal to organize systematic scientific research based on interstate and intersectoral integration and cooperation of the Caspian countries.
Deputy Director for Science of the Russian State Scientific Center of Marine Biology and Fisheries VNIRO V.A. Bizikov, V.V. Kuznetsov and S.V. Shipulin (Volga-Caspian Branch of VNIRO – KaspNIRKh), I.V. Sokolova (Astrakhan State Nature Reserve), V.A. Skolsky and F.V. Klimov (KAPE LLP, Kazakhstan) and M.T. Baimukanov (Institute of Hydrobiology and Ecology, Kazakhstan), T.M. Eybatov (Natural History Museum of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan), S.B. Mammedov (Khazar State Nature Reserve, Turkmenistan), Amir Shirazi (Caspian Seal Conservation and Rescue Team, Iran) and Rasoul Hagjoo (Tarbiat Modares University, Iran) presented reports on the status of the Caspian seal in the areas of responsibility of all five Caspian states and ongoing research. Solovieva M.A. (IEE RAS) summarized data on the distribution, migrations and numbers of the Caspian seal to identify its key habitats, their seasonal changes and general trends, and Pilipenko G.Yu. (Lomonosov Moscow State University) spoke about the latest studies of the seal using satellite transmitters: animal migrations and their choice of habitats, showed data on the distribution of the seal in the Kazakh waters. The conference participants discussed the features of the use of the waters by seals, their habitats, including breeding and feeding areas and methods for census numbers.
Many reports were devoted to the welfare of the Caspian seal and the health of individual specimens in the context of its use as an indicator species for assessing the state of the entire Caspian ecosystem. Issues of seal virology were considered (Alekseev A.Yu., FRC FTM), which did not confirm the previously expressed point of view on bird flu as the cause of their mass death. Microbiological studies (Kuznetsova T.A., IEE RAS) showed the possibility of using the microbiome structure of different mucous membranes of the Caspian seal as one of the parameters of the health of these animals. Much attention was paid to the presence of heavy metals in the tissues of both the seal itself (Udodenko Yu.G., IBIW RAS) and some fish (Zaitsev V.F., ASTU), and especially the risks of mercury presence in the body of pinnipeds (Komov V.T., TBVW RAS), as well as persistent organic pollutants (Kudryavtseva A.D., IPEE RAS). Suvorova I.V. (Moskvarium Oceanography and Marine Biology Center) made reports on urate nephrolithiasis detected for the first time in the Caspian seal, as well as on pulmonary helminthiases in seals. The discussion was prompted by the reports of Shibanova P.Yu. (IEE RAS) on determining the level of infertility of Caspian seals and Khatsayeva R.M. (IEE RAS) on determining the age of the Caspian seal. Detailed reports on genetic studies of the Caspian seal, allowing comparison of this species with other closely related seal species, analysis of their origin and the state of their immune system, were made by I.G. Meshchersky and S.I. Meshchersky (IEE RAS).
A serious and not fully studied problem is the appearance of the so-called "water bears", when in the autumn-winter period a greater or lesser number of Caspian seals that died in the open sea are thrown onto the shore of the Caspian Sea. Reports on this topic from a large team of specialists from different organizations were presented by Bizikov V.A. (VNIRO) and Chunkov M.M. (PIBR DFRC RAS). In them, they covered the regularity of such emissions, the sex and age composition and condition of the dead individuals, and also voiced the possible reasons that led to the death of the seals, among which the most substantiated is the hypothesis of the death of animals as a result of asphyxia during the natural release of toxic gases in the autumn period, when seals migrate from the southern part of the Caspian to the north. Taking into account the current data on the possible influence of the fluidodynamic activity of the Caspian Sea (a detailed report on this phenomenon was given by V.A. Putans from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences) on the health and condition of the Caspian seal population, the conference participants supported the need to conduct a series of complex expeditions with the participation of geologists and zoologists for a detailed study of this phenomenon.
Important issues from the point of view of the conditions of existence of the Caspian seal are the dynamics of the Caspian Sea level and the state of its biota. Yanina T.A. (MSU), Malinin V.N. (RSHMU) and Frolov A.V. (IVP RAS) analyzed changes in the Caspian Sea level in the past, in the modern period and made a forecast for the future. And Ushivtsev V.B. (SSC RAS), employees of the Volga-Caspian branch of VNIRO spoke about the state of aquatic biological resources and their changes in the Caspian Sea. Balagurov A.A. (OOO NPF RAIMET) made an interesting report on regular monitoring of oil pollution of the Caspian Sea from space, and Platonov N.G. (IEE RAS) - on the ice phenology of the Caspian. Litvinov K.V. (Astrakhan State Nature Reserve) spoke about significant changes that are occurring in the Volga River delta and affecting all levels of the Caspian ecosystem, and the director of the PIBR DFRC RAS N.I. Rabazanov conducted an ecological assessment of the state of the natural environment of the western coast of the Middle Caspian from the point of view of its impact on the ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. Simon Goodman (University of Leeds, UK) in his report assessed the potential impact of climate change on seals, and Filippova A.V. (Wildlife Conservation Center) spoke about the experience of using artificial floating platforms for seal breeding on Lake Saimaa in Finland and the possibility of installing them in the Caspian for breeding Caspian seals.
At the end of the conference, a general discussion of the reports was held. The scientific community confirmed the need for further research and joint efforts of all five Caspian states to preserve the Caspian seal, a unique species, and its habitat. In order to improve the coordination of the Caspian states, increase the efficiency of response to environmental disasters and strengthen international cooperation within the framework of sustainable development of the region, a proposal was made to establish an interstate scientific center for the reception and processing of remote sensing and natural resource management data; synchronization and standardization of data received from satellites of national and international programs, including open data from Copernicus, Sentinel and others; scientific and practical cooperation aimed at developing innovative technologies for monitoring and responding to environmental challenges; increasing transparency and accessibility of data for all stakeholders, including the scientific community, government agencies and public organizations.
The conference participants paid great attention to the need to develop international cooperation among the Caspian countries in conducting scientific research and preserving the animal world and biodiversity of the Caspian Sea, joint monitoring of the Caspian seal population following the example of Russian-Kazakh cooperation, as well as submitting this issue for consideration by the Intergovernmental Commission for the Conservation, Rational Use of Aquatic Biological Resources of the Caspian Sea and Management of their Joint Stocks. It was recommended to continue joint aerial surveys to assess the number and distribution of the Caspian seal following the example of Russia and Kazakhstan, and it was proposed that other Caspian countries join such work on a mutually beneficial basis. It was also proposed to appeal to the Commission for the Conservation, Rational Use of Aquatic Biological Resources of the Caspian Sea and Management of their Joint Stocks with a proposal to establish a Scientific Committee under it to ensure the activities of the Working Groups on Science and Aquaculture, and to regulate economic activity in the Caspian Sea.
In closing the conference, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Magomedov M.-R.D. (PIBR DFRC RAS) spoke about the research of the Caspian region during the first academic expeditions in the south of Russia and about Academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences Samuil-Gottlieb Gmelin, who was captured and died during one of the expeditions. The grave of this remarkable researcher is still preserved in the village of Kayakend and the participants of the International Scientific Conference specially visited this village to lay a wreath and flowers at the grave of Samuil-Gottlieb Gmelin, one of whose relatives first described the Caspian seal.
The participants of the International Scientific Conference are grateful to the Caspian Institute of Biological Resources of the Dagestan Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences for organizing and successfully holding the International Scientific Conference “Caspian Seal: An Indicator of the State of the Caspian Ecosystem”, as well as to the Moskvarium Center for Oceanography and Marine Biology, the Gadzhi Makhachev Foundation and Derbent Golden Sands LLC for financial support of its holding.