GWADAR – A 24-meter Bryde’s whale that was found dead off the western coast of Gwadar on Wednesday has been buried while its bones will be kept in a museum to create awareness.
The whale was injured in several places, Assistant Director Environment at Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) Abdul Rahim told Geo News and added that an investigation into the cause of death continues.
However, he added, it seems like the whale collided with a ship and was injured according to initial analysis and evidence.
The Bryde’s whale, scientifically known as Balaenoptera edeni, is among the three rorqual or baleen whales found in Pakistani waters. The other two are blue whale and Arabian humpback whale.
Listed in the data deficient category (not enough known about its status) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Bryde’s whale is the only baleen whale species that usually spend the whole year in tropical and subtropical zones.
There are a few records of the presence of Bryde’s whale in Pakistan which are mainly based on the beached carcasses. Its population in some locations including Pakistan is declining.
A carcass of Bryde’s whale was found in Damb, Sonmiani in 2013, while two specimens were caught in tuna gillnets in Gwadar and then in the offshore waters of Ormara in 2010 and 2014 respectively. In the last case, the whale died while being disentangled from the net.
Earlier, this week an 8-meter pregnant sperm whale washed up on a beach in Porto Cervo, a popular tourist destination in Sardinia, Italy, with 22 kilograms of plastic in its belly.
