It was a quick shot Nurlan Iskakov took when news broke that over 300 dead seals had been washed ashore the Caspian Sea in the Mangystau oblast.

Iskatov said that if the oil producers are to blame for what happened, they would bear full responsibility. “In this case, they would have to expect sanctions, compensation payments and a stop of drilling operations until the reasons for the death of the seals are found.”

Now, however, it becomes obvious that the seals had to die because of an abnormally warm winter which prevented the formation of ice in the northern parts of the Caspian Sea. In any case, the environmental regulations become more stringent now:

The minister said he had ordered to cancel “disposing of any waste from any types of drilling on the Caspian shelf.” Now the rules of zero discharge are applied there, Iskakov specified.

Isakov’s haste in getting things done and taking quick shots at the oil industry seem justified when taking into account what happened last year, when 350 seals and thousands of sturgeon died in the northern part of the Caspian region as a result of a leak at the Kashagan site.

As if the oil industry isn’t enough of a challenge to the declining seal population, climate change seems to become even more dangerous for them in the long run.