A massive rescue effort was kick-started on Tuesday to save an entangled Arabian Sea humpback whale, stranded in the Port of Duqm. The stranding of the whale was reported to the Oman Stranding Network on Monday night.

‘Specialists and volunteers from the Environment Authority, Five Oceans Environmental Services and Future Seas, supported by ESO and Port of Duqm, took the lead in what would be a complicated rescue effort,’ Port of Duqm said in a statement.

It added that the incident highlights the dangers of abandoned fishing gear to the marine environment. ‘Will post updates on the efforts to save this endangered whale,’ the statement added on Tuesday evening.

Arabian humpback whales, inhabiting the Arabian Sea, are a small sub population of humpback whales, which are most genetically distinct humpback whales and are considered to be the most isolated whale population on Earth. A population estimation study suggests that they have remained separate from other humpback whale populations for perhaps 70,000 years, which is extremely unusual in a species famed for long distance migrations