Reports that another humpback whale had become entangled in a
fisherman’s net led Oman’s recently established Whale and Dolphin
Rescue Team to make a six and a half hour journey, in four-wheel-drive
vehicles, from Muscat to Khaluf, situated on one of the Sultanate’s
more remote stretches of coastline. Their journey was not in vain
for they successfully released yet another young humpback whale
that was trapped in similar circumstances to the whale whose rescue
was briefly described in the previous issue of Arabian Wildlife
magazine. On this occasion, however, the team had a more difficult
challenge and needed to draw on all their available skills and
knowledge in an operation that was fraught with danger and excitement.
Led by Mohammed Barwani of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries
(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
gill net for an incredible 29 days.
Frightened Whale Poses Threat to Divers
An advance team of three snorkellers entered the murky water to
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
challenging.
The fishing net was deeply embedded in the long cuts that it had
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 was to wait for it to surface.
With knives and scissors ready, divers again entered the water.
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
surface.
Blood spurted from the whale’s nose as the net was cut and pulled
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 rope, trying to free himself.
Whale Sense
An hour and a half after the first diver had entered the water,
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
of open water.
Freedom Dance
Elated yet exhausted, the rescuers now watched in awe as the 15-20
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
to shore.
Net Cost of Whale Rescue
The rescue at Khaluf marks the sixth rescue attempt of its kind
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
as the nets themselves.
Fishing is a major industry in the Sultanate of Oman and the concerns
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
population numbers, also suffer.
The Oman Whale and Dolphin Rescue Team intend to devise measures
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
they will never forget.
The Whale and Dolphin Rescue Team rely entirely upon local sponsorship
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
of whales and dolphins. Sightings can be reported to the Oman Natural History Museum, PO Box 668, Muscat 113; Tel (968)
605400; Fax (968) 602735, where further information is also available.