The giant blue whale found dead in the sea near Jiwani tehsil of Gwadar District is drifting towards the coast that might explode due to the corpse’s decomposition causing a serious health hazard for the local masses.
The dead whale was swept away by the waves of the sea that came close to the shore of Bandri Beach of Jiwani.
World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF-Pakistan) senior researcher Sudhir Baloch, a native of Gwadar, was the first to respond to the emergency and reached the spot. He dived into the water to reach the largest mammal floating over water as it was not close to shore and easily accessible for examination.
The dead whale as per the initial report was around 36 feet long whereas its weight was unknown. The local authorities amid preemptive measures have started sensitizing the local population to abstain from reaching the spot as the bulging carcass of the whale could shatter releasing the decayed entrails and rotten stench in the atmosphere.
A WWF senior official told APP that Pakistan hosts different species of whale from the blue whale to humpback whale and melon-headed whale. The whales of Pakistan and India were mercilessly hunted by Russian ships in 1964 and excessively hunted after the 1950s across the world which endangered its population. Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) Director General, Mujeeb ur Rehman Qambrani has decided to preserve the remains and carcass of the dead whale as taxidermy for public awareness and education related to the largest mammal found the ocean of the country.
The Director General GDA has directed the Deputy Director Environment of the Authority and Marine Expert Abdur Raheem Baloch to take proper measures for the taxidermy of the whale. —APP
