The Arabian Sea Humpback Whale was entangled in two large fishing nets when it was found in the Port of Duqm, Oman. Specialists and volunteers from the Environment Authority and Services and the IWC Global Whale Entanglement Network were quickly on their way. The team worked on the complicated rescue mission all day, however, with the sun setting, they had to postpone their efforts to the next day.
Unfortunately, the whale was nowhere to be seen come next morning. The team spent the next two days locating the possibly still entangled whale with support of the coastguard. Finally, the coastguard managed to share footage of a whale with the same tail fin and fluke pattern. This is hoped to be “evidence that the whale was successfully able to break free from the remaining fishing nets and is now safe.”
Arabian Sea Humpback whales are the only non-migratory species of humpbacks. They are thus especially sensitive to changes like increased traffic in the Arabic Sea and highly susceptible to pollution and marine debris. Unfortunately, it is estimated that less than 100 animals of the endangered species still remain.
The full breakdown of the rescue mission can be found here: Port of Duqm Company (@portofduqm) / Twitter with a commentary by a marine specialist here: Stranded humpback whale rescued off Oman port – Middle East Monitor
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