News

New genetic comparison of all Southern Hemisphere humpback whales confirms unique status of Arabian Sea population

A recently published paper by ASWN member Howard Rosenbaum features a comparison of genetic samples collected from humpback whales off the coast of Oman with all other sampled populations in the Southern Hemisphere.  It is the largest study of its kind and helps illuminate unseen connections between populations.  The study of ...

Astola Island declared Pakistan’s first Marine Protected Area

Astola Island, located about 39 kilometres east of Pasni, Balochistan, in the Arabian Sea, has been declared the first dedicated Marine Protected Area (MPA) in Pakistan.  The island and it surrounding waters are known to provide important habitat to many marine species, including Arabian Sea humpback whales. Covering an area ...

Exciting new discoveries in India and Sri Lanka”

During recreational scuba dives over the course of two days in March 2017, Ajey Patil, a dive instructor in Goa (www.divegoa.com)  and divers Khush and Venkat from Barracuda Dive Club heard something new under water:  A series of strange and wonderful sounds that Ajey later described as "Honks, Grunts, Moo's, and ...

Arabian Sea Whales at the 2017 meeting of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission

Last week several ASWN members had the opportunity to attend the Scientific Committee (SC) meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Bled.  A wide range of papers was presented, highlighting the important work conducted by ASWN members and their colleagues over the past year, and leading to renewed IWC endorsement ...

The Arabian Sea Humpback Whale Infographic is ready for distribution!

After months of planning, ASWN members have finalized an infographic designed to raise awareness of the unique nature of Arabian Sea Humpback whales and the urgent conservation challenges they face.  The infographic was made possible with financial support from the Emirates Wildlife Society-WWF, and was designed by Agenda 28 in consultation ...

A focus on ship strikes and whales in the Arabian Sea

Two recent publications highlight the risk of ship strikes to Arabian Sea whale populations. The first is a fact sheet, hot off the press from WWF International.  It draws on the International Whaling Commission's Strategic  Plan to Mitigate the Impacts of Ship Strikes on Cetaceans, and highlights 10 key areas where the ...

New papers highlight the unique and vulnerable status of Arabian Sea humpback whales and the results of satellite tagging of whales in the Indian Ocean

Recently two scientific papers have been published that are of great value to our understanding of humpback whales in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.  The first is a review of 3575 genetic samples collected from seven breeding stocks of humpback whales in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans.  The study ...

Fishermen in Pakistan free entangled humpback whale

[wpvideo cqHtvUsj] Video of the entangled whale, that was freed by a WWF-Pakistsan trained captain of a tuna vessel. The WWF-Pakistan led programme to train fishing captains in how to report whale sightings and free accidentally entangled wildlife from their nets is yielding more and  more valuable information and saving ...

Arabian Sea humpback whales feature in Pakistan Daily Times

The locations of three recently reported humpback whale sightings in Pakistan, and a photograph taken by the fishing vessel captains who reported the sightings.  More details in the link to the Pakistan Daily Times newspaper article below. Since 2014, WWF Pakistan has been leading a fisheries observer programme that trains fishing ...

Arabian Sea humpback whales are one of only four populations still considered Endangered under the United States revised Endangered Species Act listing.

The following statement was posted by WWF International:  and is copied here below: Following an extensive review process that started in 2009 and was finalized in September 2016, the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has revised the status of humpback whale populations around the world under the US ...