Rare species of whale recently caught by fishermen, Karachi

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KARACHI: A rare species of whale was recently caught by fishermen, who were searching for tuna about 120 nautical miles south-west of Karachi.
It was identified as a pygmy sperm whale (Kogia breviceps) about 8.2 feet long, weighing about 400kg.
The specific species is of the smallest whales found at the outer continental shelf and is one of the three species of toothed whale in the sperm whale family.
The marine mammal was later discarded by fishermen led by Saeed Zaman, captain of the fishing boat Al-Fahim.
“It got entangled in a gillnet and died before fishermen could make any effort to rescue it,” said World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan’s technical adviser on marine fisheries Mohammad Moazzam Khan.
The species known from the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans was mostly observed through stranding on beaches from different parts of the world, he added.
According to Mr Khan, it’s the first authentic record of the specific whale in Pakistan’s waters as the past two records of its occurrence based on stranding at Sonmiani beach and near Churna Island were unconfirmed.
“Whales and dolphins are sensitive animals and they often die when they get entangled in fishing nets as they cannot come to the surface for breathing. The pygmy sperm whale feeds on deep-sea squids and crabs,” he pointed out.