KARACHI: A giant blue whale was spotted and recorded on camera by fishermen two kilometres off the coast of Gadani, Balochistan, on Monday morning.

The largest animals to have ever lived on earth, blue whales are listed endangered on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Species and there are around 10,000 to 25,000 specimens worldwide.

According to local fishermen, they saw the same whale along Gadani’s coast at around 4:40pm on Sunday. But, they were not able to record it on camera at that time.

“It’s the second time the live sighting of a blue whale has been recorded on camera in Pakistani waters,” Muhammad Moazzam Khan, technical adviser of World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) said, adding that species was the second most common whale in Pakistan’s waters after the Arabian humpback whale.

Local fishermen had also spotted the largest animal on earth a day earlier

According to him, there is a sizable population of blue whales in the Arabian Sea as local fishermen have reported several sightings of the animal during the last 15 years.

Mr Khan recalled that a gigantic mother blue whale with her calf was sighted off Churna Island near the Karachi coast in September 2017.

He hoped that the giant whale would maneuver and find its way into the deep waters as the Gadani area had many physical barriers such as shipbreaking activities, Single Point Mooring (SPM), reception facilities for the coal power plant and some construction-related barges and tugs.

“The area from where the blue whale is recorded is part of the Churna-Kaio Island Complex Area of Interest and is adjacent to the North East Arabian Sea Important Marine Mammal Area, a region identified and declared by the Marine Mammal Protected Area Task Force of International Union for Conservation of Nature,” Mr Khan explained.

Commenting on the whale’s sighting, Ghazi Salahuddin, regional head, Sindh and Balochistan WWF-P, said whales faced several challenges along their habitat range.

“The major threats to whales in Pakistan’s waters include entanglement in the fishing nets, ship strikes, pollution and climate change. As blue whales are migratory species, we need to promote new conservation approaches through enhancing cooperation from local to regional and international levels,” he emphasised.

Science-based and research organisations, civil society, states, and inter-governmental bodies should play their role to safeguard whale species, Mr Salahudding added.

“The WWF-Pakistan through its Observer Programme is building the capacity of local fishermen to safely release the entangled whales, dolphins, turtles and other threatened marine species from fishing nets, film the sighting of endangered species and make efforts for the protection.”

According to experts, blue whales live in all the world’s oceans, except the Arctic, occasionally swimming in small groups but usually alone or in pairs. They often spend summers feeding in polar waters and undertake lengthy migrations towards the Equator as winter arrives. They are among the loudest animals on earth.

“These magnificent marine mammals rule the oceans at up to 100 feet long and upwards of 200 tonnes. Their tongues alone can weigh as much as an elephant. Their hearts, as much as an automobile.”

“Blue whales reach these mind-boggling dimensions on a diet composed nearly exclusively of tiny shrimp like animals called krill. During certain times of the year, a single adult blue whale consumes about four tonnes of krill a day,” says the National Geographic website.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2024