Karachi:
There was a blue whale that measures about 35 feet long in a remote area in Gwatar Bay between Pakistan and Iran on Monday.
A local fisherman, Ahmad Baloch, who was fishing in the area, reported the incident of a dead whale floating near Kuntani, Baluchistan.
It is likely that the whale has died a few days ago in the marine open between Pakistan and Iran, and headed towards Gwatar’s bay under the influence of a rough sea and strong currents, a press release said.
Although the cause of death is not determined so far, it seems that the animal could have been entangled in the fragance networks that are used to catch fish in the coastal waters and on the high seas in the area.
The blue whale, scientifically called Balanoptera musculus, is one of the three Baleen whales reported in Pakistani waters.
The other two whales are Bryde’s whale and the Arab humpback whale.
There are four subspecies of blue whales, of which two include the Blue Pigmeo whale (Balanoptera musculus brevicauda) and the blue whale of the Indian Ocean (Balanoptera musculus indicates) that are located in the north of the Indian Ocean. Taking into account its small size, this dead blue whale sighted in Kuntani can be a pigment blue whale.
Muhammad Moazzam Khan, technical advisor, WWF-Pakistan, expressed concern about the mortality of the blue whale and described the sad news for the conservation community worldwide.
He shared that it is known that the blue whale is distributed in tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean.
Khan emphasized that although this whale is classified as an endangered species, urgent steps are required for conservation. Now all cetaceans, including whales and dolphins, are protected under the laws of wildlife and the fishing of Sindh and Baluchistan.
