A LEVIATHAN RESCUE

(and Oman’s International Whaling Commission representative since

1981), and by cetacean expert Robert Baldwin, the convoy of five

vehicles included officials from the Ministry of Municipalities

& Environment (MRME) and volunteer divers from Sultan Qaboos University;

Muscat Divers; Airworks and the Royal Flight. The rough road to

Khaluf on the southern shores of the Gubbat Hashish, 60 km south-west

of Masira island, led the team to a stunning white sand beach

strewn with evidence of intense fishing activity, including the

remains of countless fishes, three dolphins and two turtles. It

was here that Saleh Ali, Director of the Mahoot office of MRME,

and concerned fishermen, directed the team to the whale, just

500 m offshore, where it had apparently been struggling in a large

try to establish just how badly entangled the eight metre long

whale had become. Attempting to calm the distraught and badly

sunburned animal, they soon realized that in exceptionally poor

visibility, and with the whale frustrated and frightened, the

task ahead was going to be dangerous, difficult and physically

gouged in the whale’s head and extending back along the body,

engulfing both flippers. In addition, a bundle of ropes, nets

and fishing floats were wrapped tightly around the body and hooked

over the dorsal fin. Only the tail remained ‘free’ (if you could

use that word to describe its ability to thrash the water in a

desperate struggle to break out of its imprisonment). The snorkelling

team quickly tied a rope around the fishing floats and secured

the other end to a support boat, in order to keep track of the

submerged whale. Two divers then slipped in and descended along

the rope while others began to kit up and prepare for the dive

ahead. Suddenly a divers boot and fin appeared at the surface

amid a commotion of bubbles and white water. Anxiety filled the

observers in the boat. Then, to their relief, the divers reappeared,

unharmed but looking shocked and shaken by their alarming experience.

The whale had evidently turned underwater and the divers had inadvertently

swum directly towards the tail, six feet across and frighteningly

powerful. One was struck in the chest, forcing him upwards through

the water and knocking his air-supply regulator from his mouth.

It seemed that the only safe (or relatively safe) way to approach

The whale surfaced nearby and the divers quickly grabbed hold

of the net around the head and began to cut. Stroking the whale’s

pleated throat in an attempt to calm the nervous animal seemed

to have little effect. Surrounded by divers, the whale was clearly

distressed, blowing while still underwater, bucking its head and

thrashing its tail. Some of the divers managed to hang on as the

whale dived, and continued to cut the net. The whale reappeared

briefly on the surface, divers clinging o the net on both sides,

then dived once more, dragging the divers with it beneath the

from inch-deep wounds inflicted over the past month as the whale

had struggled to free itself. The net then slipped back, freeing

the head. One diver managed to cut the ropes from the huge flippers

and sensing freedom the whale lunged forward, dragging the boat

sideways across the surface, threatening to capsize it. A diver’s

foot became entangled in one of many ropes trailing from the whale

and he was dragged backwards through the water, tumbling in the

turbulence created by the beating tail flukes, whilst he cut at

the whale appeared to be free. However, to the rescuers great

surprise, it made no apparent attempt to leave. At that point

they realized that the net must have become entangled around the

tail. Exhausted by their sustained efforts to free the whale,

and fearing to repeat the mistakes of the first two swimmers who

were lucky to have escaped serious injury, the divers silently

surveyed the scene, searching for an answer: from the whale itself,

or from their colleagues. Each one of them was acutely aware of

the danger of approaching the tangled but incredibly powerful

tail flukes. Without warning the whale surfaced among them and

a single diver took hold of the whale’s dorsal fin and began to

cautiously make his way towards the tail. What happened next will

remain a secret of shared understanding between that diver and

the whale itself. Having displayed little recognition, up to that

point, of the friendly intentions of its human visitors, the whale’s

disposition now changed to one which those watching would later

describe as understanding and cooperation. The whale allowed the

diver to effortlessly slip the ropes from either side of the flukes

and with a gentle beat of the huge and fearsome tail, it was finally

free. Only the surface eddies marked its underwater path as it

headed away from the fishing boats towards the relative safety

tonne whale launched itself from the water in a series of consecutive

breaches that were to continue for an hour, during which time

it breached an amazing 150 times! Why, after an agonizing and

exhausting 29 days, wrapped in the choking grasp of a near-deadly

net, the the exhausted creature should display such energy and

apparent exuberance one can only guess. Perhaps the physical imprint

of the net itself had left the whale with an uncomfortable feeling

that parts of it were still attached to its body. Perhaps parasites

had accumulated whilst the whale had remained trapped and stationery

for so long and this was an attempt to rid itself of them. Perhaps

the whale was attempting to communicate with other whales out

at sea. Or was it trying to say something to its saviours? Whatever

the reason, its joyous freedom dance conveyed a sense of great

satisfaction and happiness to the divers as the boat headed back

on humpback whales in Oman. Many whales and dolphins suffer the

same problem, but the humpback whale (which may be in danger of

extinction), and other species that feed close to shore, come

into contact with fishing nets more frequently. And behind the

scenes there lies a political dilemma as intricate and problematic

of fishermen are justifiably given very serious consideration

at government level. Establishing a suitable working balance between

the traditional rights of fishermen, and the sustenance of a rich

and varied marine environment upon which their livelihoods depend,

is the challenge and never ending task that faces concerned officials,

fisheries scientists and conservationists. By default, fish stocks

themselves cannot thrive under conditions of unsustainable harvest

and victims of accidental ‘by-catches’, such as whales with low

that will prevent the capture of whales, dolphins and other forms

of marine life that do not form the target of fishermen’s efforts.

This requires careful planning, political negotiation and financing.

Although whales have been successfully rescued, albeit with difficulty

in some instances, the team cannot escape payment to the fishermen

of considerable sums of money for the loss of, or damage to, their

fishing nets. The cost of a single whale rescue can thus decimate

sponsorship funding upon which the team depends for all its work.

However, rescuing whales also has its benefits, not only to the

whales themselves, but also to the successful team and to volunteer

divers who are afforded the privilege and excitement of a dive

from private companies, such as Shell Marketing, Taylor-Woodrow-Towell,

Truckoman, National Training Institute, Swissair, Sabco LLC, Muscat

Intercontinental Hotel, Arabian Mapping Company, Arabian Seas

Expedition, Family Bookshop and Douglas OHI. The team’s aims include

extensive research to discover more about Oman’s whales and dolphins;

education about Oman’s cetaceans and their conservation, establishment

of programmes to reduce, and hopefully prevent, accidental net

captures, and finally to encourage reporting of any sightings