The work of the first expedition of the Soul of the Caspian project begins this fall - on the La-8 amphibious aircraft, the scientific and film crew will fly along the Russian coast of the Caspian Sea along pre-built routes.
At the second stage, the expeditionary group, together with state inspectors and researchers of the Astrakhan Reserve, will go out to sea on boats to Maly Zhemchuzhny Island to install satellite transmitters on seals and take bioassays.
"The island is a state natural monument of federal significance and is known as one of the most important rookeries of the Caspian seal in the Northern Caspian," said the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources.
Expeditions are part of the initial stage of the “Soul of the Caspian”, there is still a lot of work ahead to study the current state of the Caspian seal population and develop a strategy for its conservation.
According to the ministry, the eco-project should help solve the problem of reducing the number of this mammal, which is endemic to the Caspian Sea.
The project is being implemented by the Clean Seas Foundation in cooperation with leading experts on marine mammals from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A.N. Severtsov Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and the partnership of the Astrakhan State Reserve.
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