Hazar Denizi Foku (Phoca caspica) ve Günümüzdeki Durumu

Roman Sharipov

Hazar Denizi Foku (Phoca caspica) ve Günümüzdeki Durumu

Thesis Type: Postgraduate

Institution Of The Thesis: Istanbul University, Faculty of Aquatic Sciences, Department of Marine and Freshwater Resources Management, Turkey

Approval Date: 2012

Thesis Language: Turkish

Student: Roman Sharipov

Supervisor: Bayram Öztürk

Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection

Abstract:

Caspian Seal (Phoca caspica Gmelin, 1788) is an endemic species of the Caspian Sea and the smallest member of the Phocidae familia. This mammal spreads from all over the Caspian Sea area. In winter, beginning of spring and in the end of autumn the most part of the population is found in the north part, in autumn months it migrates to the deltas of the Volga and Ural rivers. In the end of spring, summer and in the beginning of autumn it spreads over the middle and east part of the Caspian Sea. As a matter of fact, this species takes place at the top of the food pyramid and plays role as a bioindicator of the all negatif factors happening in the Caspian Sea. The negatif factors such as organic elements, hydrocarbons, metals, phenols e.t. wastes found along the coast, allowed killing, bycatch, competition and reducing of the ice covering area, the spawning area of this mammal, can effect as the main reason of the continuous decreasing of the population. In the beginning of the XX. Century the population of the Caspian Seal was about one million, but nowadays it has decreased to 10 percent.This study gives a general information about Caspian Sea and studies related to the main topic of the thesis, the Caspian Seal (Phoca caspica Gmelin, 1788) specificaly a field study and studies related to it?s population, migration, breeding, illnesses, sealing numbers, effects of chemical wastes, impact of ice- breaker to the seals and aerial survey.During the survey carried out the coastal region, it was found that Kosa Kenderli is a vital area for the migration of Caspian Seal. It was also determined that Zmeyiniy Bay was not preferred by the seals as a migration habitat due to the human facilities near this area. As a part of the study, the aerial surveys were used to estimate population abundance of Caspian Seal, and it was estimated that there were 32140 individuals in the study area of the Caspian Sea. During the eight-kilometer survey carried out in the coastal area, a total of 6 died seals were found in the Kosa Tyub-Karagan region. The metric characteristics of all individuals were recorded, and the ages of two individuals were determined.In this study, the present status of Caspian Seal was investigated, and the fundamental information was obtained in order to give a conservation status.