‘Two large pods of pantropical spotted dolphins sighted in the Pakistani waters’

KARACHI: In a rare occurrence, two large pods of pantropical spotted dolphins were recently sighted in Pakistani waters, the WWF-Pakistan said on Thursday.

While, sailing in offshore waters southwest of Churna Island on his boat “Zulu” on October 20, Zahid Maker, Board Member, WWF-Pakistan along with his crew spotted the large pod of dolphins jumping in the waters. As the boat neared the pod, the dolphins started bow-riding. According to Maker, it was amazing to see the frisky dolphins moving beside the boat and surfacing on the waters.

Approximately 50 adult dolphins were spotted, which continued to bow-ride for more than 20 minutes before they moved away. During another trip 80 nautical miles from Abdul Rahman Goth in Karachi on October 26, the same crew observed a pod of these dolphins, which included both adults and juveniles.

This time, the pod was so close to the boat that the crew could touch the dolphins, which were playful and seemed fearless. The pantropical spotted dolphin (Stenella attenuata), locally known as “tushuk” in Balochi and “gokin” in Sindhi is found in all temperate and tropical oceans around the world.

It is considered to be very active in making large, splashy leaps from the sea.

It is believed that coastal and offshore dolphins are prone to anthropogenic factors including commercial fishing, habitat degradation, vessel traffic and other coastal development activities. Population of this species in the Southeast Asian region including those in Pakistan are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).

According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species the pantropical spotted dolphin is considered as Least Concern.

WWF-Pakistan stated that the coastal and off-shore waters of Pakistan are known to be rich in cetacean populations including dolphins, whales and porpoises as a total of 23 species of these majestic animals have been reported from these waters.

Offshore waters are known to have large populations of dolphins such as the pantropical spotted dolphin, spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris) and Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus), which are a common occurrence in the area.

WWF-Pakistan confirmed that large whales including the blue whale, sperm whale, Bryde’s whale and killer whale have also been reported from Pakistan’s coast including the Indus Canyon, Churna Island and Astola Island.

Muhammad Moazzam Khan, Technical Advisor (Marine Fisheries), WWF-Pakistan pointed out that because of the rich population of cetaceans in the Arabian Sea, their frequent interaction with fishing operations has often been reported by local fishers. Studies carried out by WWF-Pakistan indicate that in the past about 12,000 dolphins used to become entangled in tuna gillnets operating in coastal and offshore waters of Pakistan.

To address the dolphin mortality issue, WWF-Pakistan developed the subsurface operation of gillnetting technique where nets are launched at a depth of abc instead of xyz, which was immediately adopted by fishermen.

As a result, dolphin mortality has significantly decreased. In the year 2020 only two mortalities of dolphins in gillnet fishing were reported by the tuna gillnet fleet to date.

Moazzam Khan also pointed out that the introduction of subsurface gillnetting is a remarkable achievement which has received international acclaim and is being adopted by regional countries including Sri Lanka.

Reports indicated that the population of dolphins have increased in coastal and offshore waters of Pakistan, which is also observed from frequent reports of bow-riding by local fishermen. The joint conservation efforts by WWF-Pakistan, relevant government agencies, local communities and other partners are paying off, leading to the revival of populations of marine mega fauna especially dolphins in Pakistani waters.

The recent footage of dolphins confirms that the modifications in fishing gear and awareness programmes by WWF have helped improve the marine ecosystem and conserve endangered and rare species.

WWF-Pakistan also recommends that the Indus Canyon be declared the second marine protected area in Pakistan, after Astola Island.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020