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Body of Whale Found Floating off Abu Dhabi Coast

ABU DHABI - A carcass of a nine-metre-long whale was recovered by a team of Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) and Critical National Infrastructure Authority personnel, nearly four nautical miles west of Umm Al Dalkh oil field on Friday.

The whale is commonly referred to as Bryde’s whale and is identified as belonging to Balaenoptera edeni species.

Director of Biodiversity Sector — Marine Environment at EAD, Thabit Al Abdessalaam, said the carcass was partially decomposed when found, indicating that it may have died at least four to five weeks ago.

“Upon closer examination, the fluke (or tail) was found to be lacerated probably by the propeller of a large boat and may have caused the animal’s death,” he said.

Some taxonomists think that there may be three-four distinctive forms of Bryde’s whale populations. In the waters off the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and Northern Arabian Sea, two forms or subspecies — an offshore and a coastal form are thought to exist. The coastal, inshore type is perhaps entirely a resident one.

This species, which is a baleen whale, belongs to the family Balaenopteridae, which includes the Humpback whale and Blue whale. Also known as Tropical whale, reflecting its preference for tropical waters and warm, temperate waters, it was given the common name of Bryde’s whale in honour of Norwegian consul Johan Bryde, who built the first whaling factory in Durban, South Africa.

Although the species is included in IUCN Red List under the group of threatened species, its global population appears to be relatively stable.

Current estimates put their population around 90,000. There is, however, a deficiency in terms of available data about the species at the local level in the UAE.

Bryde’s whale attains a maximum length of 15.6 meters and weighs 20.3 tons with females being slightly larger than males. Females become sexually mature at eight to ten years of age.

Males attain sexual maturity at the age of nine to thirteen years.

The species probably mate throughout the year with females giving birth less than once every two years. Gestation lasts about one year.

Size of the animal at birth isfour metres and the newborn weighs about one ton. Calves are weaned at about six months and approximately measure 7.1 metres at the time. The species as calves about six-metres-long have been spotted.

Coastal development,accidents and waste have emerged as aserious cause of deaths among marine wildlife. A critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle was found dead on the coast of Delma during a clean-up in November last year.

“Plastics in particular are a menace tothe marine life, as decades of trash lands up in the sea bed. Besides killing wildlife, plastics can hinder their swimming, harm commercial and local fisheries and human health, Thabit Al Abdessalaam said.

He had called on fishermen and beach-goers to be more responsible because most of the plastic trash came from discarded fishing gear like nylon ropes and nets, while the rest came from land or is thrown into the sea by ships passing by.

qudoos@khaleejtimes.com