Two new papers reveal important insights into whales in the Northern Indian Ocean
Last week two new papers were published revealing important information about feeding and parasites in blue whales off Sri Lanka and humpback whale song off the Goan coast of India. Read the full abstracts of these papers below: de Vos A, Faux CE, Marthick J, Dickinson J, Jarman SN. 2018 ...
ASWN Data Platform Workshop Report now available
In January 2018, a number of ASWN members gathered in Muscat for a workshop focusing on the final stages of development and capacity building for the creation of the ASWN regional data platform. The platform is being developed with Wild Me/Flukebook, and should be ready for wider use throughout the ...
Luban completes her return journey back to the coast of Oman
Luban, the first Arabian Sea humpback whale to have been documented crossing from Oman to India, has now completed a return journey, and is once again swimming in the waters around Masriah Island where she was originally tagged in November 2017. Luban's tag has been transmitting signals for over 17 weeks ...
ASWN Data platform workshop hosted in Oman
(Adapted from a press release issued by ESO and WWF Pakistan) As part of its efforts to protect and conserve endangered whales, the Environment Society of Oman (ESO) hosted a workshop on Managing Data for Whale Conservation in the Arabian Sea. The workshop, organized jointly by ESO and WWF-Pakistan aimed ...
Indus River Canyon designated as Arabian Sea’s largest MPA
Press release issued by WWF Pakistan on January 6th, 2018: Karachi, January 6: The Ministry of Climate Change (MoCC), Government of Pakistan declared the Indus River Canyon (Exclusive Economic Zone) as a Marine Protected Area (MPA) through notification No. 9-5/2001 (BD) on Saturday. This is the second Marine Protected Area ...
Press on both sides of the Arabian Sea for Luban, the tagged humpback whale
Since our earlier post on December 27th, Luban, the humpback whale tagged off the coast of Oman in November 2017, has continued to attract attention featuring in press articles on both sides of the Arabian Sea. Luban spent several days off the southwest coast of India, and ASWN member, Dipani ...
Humpback whale tagged off the coast of Oman crosses Arabian Sea to India
Official press release from the Environment Society of Oman (27 December, 2017): “Luban” an Arabian Sea Humpback Whale tagged in the Gulf of Masirah last month, has made the first recorded trans-oceanic crossing across the Arabian Sea. “Luban” is one of 14 whales that have been tagged by the Environment ...
Humpback whale mother and calf observed off the coast of the United Arab Emirates
On October 9th 2017 a number of sightings of a mother and calf humpback whale were reported off the coast of Dubai (United Arab Emirates) to the UAE Dolphin Project (www.uaedolphinproject.org) and were shared with regional researchers and the general public (http://tinyurl.com/yb99vxtm). These sightings represent the first recent record of ...
Pre-print manuscript published on humpback whales in the Persian Gulf
A pre-print manuscript is available collating and describing all the known records of humpback whales in the Persian Gulf. The paper (see full link and abstract below), is the result of a collaborative effort between many researchers working in Iran and the rest of the region, and helps to clarify ...
Sperm whales and blue whales sighted by fishermen off the coast of Pakistan
We have featured a few earlier posts about the exciting reports of live whale sightings that are made by WWF-Pakistan's crew-based observers working from fishing boats off the coast of Karachi and beyond. As fishing resumes in the post-monsoon season, the first reports of 2017 are starting to arrive. As ...
