Humpback whales found in Arabian Sea are species of baleen whale, after monsoon, they migrate into Pakistani waters<\/p>\n
A large pod of endangered Arabian humpback whales has been spotted off the coast of Gwadar, Balochistan \u2014 a rare and encouraging sighting for marine conservation. The spectacular moment, where six humpback whales breached the sea surface simultaneously, was recorded on a mobile camera by a fishing boat captain out at sea for the catch.<\/p>\n
Humpback whales found in the Arabian Sea are a species of baleen whale, primarily located between Yemen and Sri Lanka. After the monsoon season, they migrate into Pakistani waters to feed on shrimp and other small fish. \u201cThe presence of a group of more than six whales is a sign of recovery along Pakistan\u2019s coastline,\u201d said Muhammad Moazzam Khan, Technical Advisor, WWF-Pakistan.<\/p>\n
According to WWF-Pakistan, the pod was sighted yesterday evening by a group of fishermen led by captain Amir Dad Kareem, approximately 11 nautical miles south of Gwadar\u2019s coastline, heading west to east through the Arabian Sea.<\/p>\n
Just last week, a group of Bryde\u2019s whales was also reported in the eastern bay of Gwadar \u2014 further highlighting the rich biodiversity of Balochistan\u2019s coastal waters. So far, 27 species of whales and dolphins have been recorded in Pakistan\u2019s marine habitats.<\/p>\n
Khan explained that Arabian Sea humpback whales are unique: unlike many humpback populations that migrate to Antarctic waters in summer to feed on krill, this group remains confined to the Arabian Sea year-round.<\/p>\n
Earlier commercial whaling, especially between 1963 and 1967 by Soviet fleets, severely impacted their numbers. \u201cThis large pod shows that the dangerously declining population of the Arabian humpback whale may be making a comeback along Pakistan\u2019s coast,\u201d Moazzam Khan said.<\/p>\n
WWF-Pakistan Senior Director for Biodiversity, Rab Nawaz, welcomed the recent sightings of humpback whales, as well as repeated observations of Bryde\u2019s and blue whales along the coasts of Sindh and Balochistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe appreciate the fishing community for monitoring whale, dolphin and other marine wildlife sightings and reporting them to WWF. This contribution to citizen science is highly valuable,\u201d Rab Nawaz stated. \u201cAwareness created by WWF among fishermen and the general public is helping protect marine species \u2014 which is commendable.\u201d<\/p>\n
A majestic species under protection<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Marine experts note that humpback whales are among the largest marine mammals on earth. Their ability to produce powerful ocean sounds and their dramatic leaps out of the water make them easily recognizable. Their distinctive hump-shaped dorsal fin and large, beautifully patterned tail allow observers to identify them from far distances.<\/p>\n Humpback whales feed on krill and small marine organisms, trapping their prey in bubble nets before swallowing. As mammals, mother whales nurse their calves for up to a year, making them highly vulnerable to environmental threats. The latest sighting has renewed hope that Pakistan\u2019s waters remain a critical sanctuary for endangered marine life \u2014 and that the Arabian humpback whale\u2019s future in the region may yet be secured.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Humpback whales found in Arabian Sea are species of baleen whale, after monsoon, they migrate into Pakistani waters A large pod of endangered Arabian humpback whales has been spotted off the coast of Gwadar, Balochistan \u2014 a rare and encouraging sighting for marine conservation. The spectacular moment, where six humpback whales breached the sea surface […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100796,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/whale1762195667-0\/whale1762195667-0-640x480.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100795","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-updates-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100795","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}