Tyuleniy Island, also known as the ‘Island of the Seals,’ is located in the Sea of Okhotsk and is an important breeding ground for northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus). More than 300 northern fur seals and Steller sea lions have been found dead in a mystery mass die-off on a small, uninhabited island in Siberia.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has allowed for 1,500 grey seals to be hunted in the Baltic Sea and 630 harbour seals on the west coast.

There was a slight rise in population numbers of the very rare animals last year.