Thousands of seals wash up dead on Russian beach

STORY: The ministry said that the animals had been found along Russia's entire shoreline of the Caspian sea and the number was likely to rise, adding that forensic examinations were being carried out to establish the cause of death.

The seal species is among the world's smallest and found exclusively in the brackish waters of the Caspian Sea. Caspian seals are vulnerable to being preyed on by other animals, such as wolves, but experts say heavy metals in the Caspian Sea and other pollutants are now a much bigger issue.

A century ago, there were an estimated 1.5 million Caspian seals, but by 2022, that number had fallen to 70,000, according to the Caspian Environmental Protection Center.