KARACHI March 6, 2009 will forever be remembered as the 'Day of the dolphin stranding' in Pakistan, after around 250 cetaceans were found stranded along Gadani beach.

 

According to a WWF press release issued on Monday, the stranding could have been due to any number of reasons, and is an event which has played itself out around the world, baffling scientists, environmentalists and policy makers, PPI reported.

 

Dolphins are playful, friendly and social creatures which have inhabited the sea for centuries. This social behaviour could have been a possibility of the stranding. One single dolphin coming to the shore and getting stranded would have evoked a social response 'a call for help' whistling (a mode of communication) enticing the schools of dolphins nearby to come to its aid, and become inadvertently stranded.

 

Another reason could have been due to the result of a phenomenon known as 'red tide.' This occurs due to the concentration of certain protozoans release toxic compounds which absorb all the oxygen in the area, disturbing the area's biological equilibrium and disorienting dolphins, leading to beaching.

 

Furthermore, this would have been due to sonar activity in the area, which has grown rapidly in recent years. Cetaceans including whales, dolphins and porpoises are very sensitive to ultra-sonic waves which damage the auditory/sensory organs often disturbing them and disorienting their migratory patterns.

 

If sonic activity is to blame, it would leave a physical trace in the form of bleeding in the auditory organs like the snouts and mouths of beached dolphins.

 

However, historical records show that beachings have occurred throughout recorded history, even before major man-made sonic activity in the seas, making it even harder to explain.

 

But the incident at Gadani Beach must have awakened the concerned wildlife authorities and policy makers to place an effective watch and warning mechanism to keep an eye on such happenings in future.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...