KARACHI: Another pod of humpback whales, five in number, was spotted near the coast of the Chann creek last week, the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) reported on Saturday.

The pod of the rare whales was was sighted about 57 kilomeres southeast of Karachi by a WWF-P-trained fisherman, Captain Jehan Badsha. “The whales were feeding on pelagic shrimp (locally known as saani), which are easily recognised from a distance as the surface of water where they gather appears white,” WWF-P technical adviser on marine fisheries Mohammad Moazzam quoted the fisherman as saying.

One of the humpback whales was reported to have distinct scars near its dorsal fin and on the tail possibly caused by entanglement in fishing gear or due to being hit by a boat, he added.

“The marks and scars on their bodies can be used for identification of individual specimens. This is the first time that the distinct scars on the whales were photographed and recorded from Pakistan.”

He believed that the five whales might be part of the same group spotted last month around 36 to 50 kilometres north of the present location.

On a request by the organisation, he pointed out, the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) had asked all its vessels as well as the Pakistan naval fleet to report sighting of any whales in the area.

Scientifically known as Megaptera novaeangliae, the humpback whale has 14 distinct population segments in the world and the one inhabiting the Arabian Sea is the smallest, with most distinct features, and is at a high risk of becoming extinct in its range of distribution extending between Yemen and Oman in the west to Iran, Pakistan and India in the east.

According to the estimates based on photo-identification, only 82 individuals of this species are left in the world.

All whale species have been declared protected under the fisheries legislations of the governments of Sindh and Balochistan this year. The Balochistan Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Act 2014 also accords protected status to the species.

“Effective implementation of the legislation will ensure protection of this endangered subpopulation of humpback whale,” WWF-P senior director (progammes) Rab Nawaz said, adding that these sightings would help understand the migration and biology of this unique marine mammal.

Published in Dawn October 16th, 2016