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Date:31 December 2007
| ESTABLISHMENT OF PAKISTAN WHALE AND DOLPHIN SOCIETY |
Society to Protect Pakistan’s Whales and Dolphins
Leading marine scientists including representatives of 10 different governmental and non-governmental organisations have agreed to form the first society to be dedicated to the study, promotion and conservation of Pakistan’s Whales and Dolphins. The inaugural meeting will take place in Karachi on January 5th 2008. The meeting is being convened by Commander Liaquat Ali (PN), who has been elected as the provisional honorary secretary of the society.
Membership of the society will be open to anyone interested in marine wildlife. “Few people in Pakistan, save for fishermen and sailors, will be aware that various species of whales and dolphin are common along different parts of Pakistan’s coast,” says Commander Liaquat. Better known is the Indus Blind Dolphin, a species unique to Pakistan. It lives in the freshwaters of the lower-middle Indus River, where the fragile population has been protected by the work of the Sindh Wildlife Department and WWF.
But until the last few years little was known scientifically about the marine whales and dolphins of Pakistan. These have been the focus of a major study over the last three years, lead by Dr. Mauvis Gore of the University of London and Marine Conservation International, Professor Pirzada Jamal Siddiqui of the Centre for Excellence in Marine Biology, Karachi University, and Dr. Ejaz Ahmed of the WorldWide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P). The team has also included more than 6 other senior and junior scientists in these organisations. The work grew out of a British Council – Higher Education Council link, initiated by Professor Siddiqui, with research and fieldwork being funded the under the UK government’s Darwin Initiative Programme, and the Pakistan Government’s Pakistan Wetlands Programme. “We are very pleased” said Professor Siddiqui, “that the work has produced such valuable findings and generated such interest.”
Surveys in both nearshore and offshore waters have shown that three species of dolphin (the Bottle-nose Dolphin, the Hump-back Dolphin, and the Spinner Dolphin) and one species of Porpoise (the Finless Porpoise) occur in moderate numbers in Pakistan’s ocean area. Two of these species, the Hump-back Dolphin and the Finless Porpoise are regarded as threatened or endangered at an international level.
During the winter months various whales also occur in Pakistani waters. These include Bryde’s Whale and the more famous and best-loved species, the Hump-backed whale and the Sperm Whale. Even the largest of the whales, the Blue Whale, is also occasionally recorded. These species were previously known to occur in Oman, on the other side of the Arabian Sea, and it was studies there that suggested that some of the population might spend part of the year in Pakistan. “Many young people in Pakistan are interested in dramatic marine life like whales and dolphins,” says Dr. Gore, leader of the Darwin project, “but few of them have the slightest idea that these animals live on their doorstep, some very close to Karachi!”
Throughout the world whales and dolphins, despite their popularity, have declined dramatically in numbers. Whales were over-exploited around the globe, including illegally by Russian whalers in Pakistani waters during the 1960s. Dolphins have been reduced in numbers as a result of being trapped, usually accidentally, in the incredibly large nets
used by some modern fishing vessels. Pollution, deadly strikes by large vessels, and loss of food and habitat have further reduced numbers. “The probable very recent extinction of the Yangtze River Dolphin in China shows what can so easily happen to dolphin species,” says Dr. Gore, “we want to help make sure that this doesn’t happen to similar species like the Indus and Hump-backed Dolphins, in Pakistan.”
In many parts of the world, the last 10-20 years has seen a dramatic growth in whale and dolphin related tourism, with whale and dolphin watching being worth tens of millions of dollars to local economies. One aim of the new Pakistan Whale and Dolphin Society will be to encourage whale and dolphin watching in Pakistan. “We believe that numbers of local fishermen could benefit from switching to this sort of activity”, says Dr. Ejaz Ahmad of WWF-Pakistan, “studies in other countries have shown that because people will pay so much to see these animals, making whales and dolphins worth more alive than dead. We hope to use WWF’s links with local fishing communities to encourage them to work together to benefit in this way.
Liaqat Ali
Email: pakistandolphin@gmail.com
Contact Details of the project partners are:
Dr. Mauvis Gore
(UMBSM) 0334-363-6049
Professor Jamal Siddiqui (CEMB)
0300-258-112
Dr. Ejaz Ahmed (WWF-P)
012-454-4791/2
Copies of the Cetacean Conservation Pakistan Project’s Annual Reports may be obtained from Dr. Gore.
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