Giant blue whale sighted off Gadani

Approximately 100-foot-long creature spotted second time

KARACHI:

A rare blue whale has been sighted at Gadani beach, the local fishermen and residents of the area reported on Monday.

The creature was spotted on the sea surface for the second time. One of the fishermen recorded the whale's movements.

The approximately 100-foot-long whale was first seen at 4:30pm on Sunday and then early morning on Monday.

The blue whale is the largest animal on the planet, weighing as much as 200 tons, equal to 33 elephants. Its heart is said to be the size of a Volkswagen Beetle and it has a stomach capacity to hold one ton of krill, which is just a quarter of its daily meal requirement.

They are the loudest animals, louder than a jet engine; their calls reach 188 decibels, while a jet's reach just 140 decibels.

Their low-frequency whistle can be heard for hundreds of miles and is probably used to attract other blue whales.

Last year, a fisherman successfully rescued a 30-foot-long sperm whale entangled in his net near Ormara on the Balochistan coastline.

Sperm whale sightings in Pakistan were first recorded in 2007.

The trapped whale was found 16km south of Mara along the continental shelf, an important marine mammal area in the northeastern Arabian Sea.

The incident highlighted the need to protect whales and dolphins given their endangered status.

The sperm whale, one of the world's four largest whale species and the largest predator on the planet, typically weighs around 40,000 kilogrammes and can measure up to 16 meters from nose to tail tip.

Primarily feeding on squid in the deep sea at depths ranging from 300 to 500 metres, these majestic creatures play a vital role in marine ecosystems.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 9^th, 2024.