LAHORE: The World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan (WWF-P) started a sailing voyage from Dubai to Karachi on February 19 which will continue till February 28.
The voyage has been undertaken to explore the rich marine life of the Arabian Sea, to highlight the unique marine ecology of the region and to record sightings of significant marine wildlife. The expedition will stop at Gwadar on its way to Karachi. WWF-P president Khalid Mahmood, along with other four members including French and Italian sailors, is leading the expedition. Crewmembers would mainly focus on recording whales, dolphins and whale sharks.
According to WWF-P Marine Fisheries technical adviser, Mohammad Moazzam Khan, a large population of the whale shark is present in these waters, and often gets entangled in fishermen’s nets. He also said that due to the awareness campaigns and training by WWF-P, fishermen have successfully released a number of whale sharks in the last few years. “Last year, a school of around 4,000 — 5,000 Spinner dolphins were sighted on the Pakistani coastline near Gunz, Balochistan which indicates at the richness of marine life,” he said. “This marine life supports such a large population of top predators like dolphins,” he added. He further said that with the help of the local fishermen, WWF-P has recently recorded authentic occurrence of Hawksbill turtle in the offshore waters of Pakistan.
The regional director of WWF-P, Rab Nawaz, commented that this voyage will help in conducting surveys to obtain more accurate information about distribution, movement, breeding and feeding of whales and dolphins. The effort aims to develop a collaborative trans-boundary plan for the conservation of the important species, he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2014.
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