Muscat – A team of specialists from the Environment Authority has been monitoring an Arabian Sea humpback whale in the Port of Duqm waters for a week.

A statement issued by the authority said, ‘The specialists confirmed that the whale was rescued last January from fishing nets in the port and that they have been following the whale to ensure its welfare and safe passage out of the port.’

In January, a massive rescue effort was undertaken to save the whale as it got stranded in the Port of Duqm after being entangled in nets.

Specialists and volunteers from the authority, Five Oceans Environmental Services and Future Seas, supported by Environment Society of Oman and the Port of Duqm, rescued the whale in January.

The authority added that the incident highlights the dangers posed by abandoned fishing gear to the marine environment.

Arabian Sea humpback whales are a small subpopulation of humpback whales, which are the most genetically distinct whales and the most isolated whale population on earth. A study suggests that these have remained separate from other humpback whale populations for perhaps 70,000 years.