100 Spinner Dolphins Rescued

100 Spinner Dolphins rescued
By Visvas Paul D. Karra
Tuesday, January 23, 2007 2:50:58 AM Oman Time

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MUSCAT — Around 100 Spinner Dolphins were saved from near death as they began to beach off the InterContinental Hotel yesterday afternoon, thus preventing a major marine ecological disaster in Oman.

While the cheers go up, the incident has raised a crucial question among local environmentalists as to what caused such a large number of dolphins to steer themselves into this suicidal action.

People living in the coastal areas have been asked to be on the lookout for such beaching of whales and dolphins as this incident has international ramifications and will certainly raise alarm among environmentalists worldwide.

Robert Baldwin of the Environment Society of Oman (ESO), who has written a book on whales and dolphins in Oman, said that dolphins should not have beached there.

He commented that the dolphins would have been disturbed in their marine environment probably because of seismic activity or some other man-made activity in the sea. Another reason could be the blooming of Red Tide which could have affected their central nervous system and forced them to beach.

Whatever the reason, those who were involved in the rescue act should be commended for their efforts.

It involved around 50 people who were led by the staff of Bait Al Bahar, a water sports and tourism company based at the InterContinental Hotel, tourists and lifeguards of the hotel and a ten-year-old child.

They all pitched in to push back the dolphins which began to beach yesterday afternoon and saved them from dying due to sunburn and physical injuries to their delicate bodies.

This humanitarian effort would not have succeeded if not for the presence of mind and eco-consciousness of manager of Bait Al Bahar Mohammed Al Riyami who knew exactly what to do.

Mohammed Al Riyami, who pioneered the concept of sea tourism in the Sultanate with his Arabian Sea Safaris and is a selfmade dolphin expert, realised the grave situation and immediately mobilised many people to swing into the rescue act.

Mohammed also called all the key authorities like the Ministry of Water Resources, Environment and Water Resources, the Environment Society of Oman and coastguard among others.

Fortunately for the dolphins, apart from Mohammed, there was yet another dolphin expert, David Upward the Recreation Manager of InterContinental Hotel, who had dealt with dolphins in other parts of the world.

The two main saviours of the dolphins are Amelia Wichers from Holland and Tunisian Omar Sharif, who works at Bait Al Bahar.

It was Amelia who first spotted the dolphins while on a swim as they began to come towards the shallow waters. Upon realising that these dolphins have not come for a romp on the shore, Amelia immediately screamed for help.

Omar Sharif then rushed to her aid and they began to push the the spinner dolphins into the sea.

Soon they were joined by David Upward and others and pushed all the dolphins safely into the sea.

Recalling the incident, Mohammed Al Riyami said that when the first row of the dolphins numbering around 50 began to beach, a second row followed them promptly. Yet another bigger school of the dolphins was waiting in the deeper waters but could be visible from the shore, said Mohammed.

They second row of dolphins beached too quickly before they could be stopped, says David.

“I have never seen so many dolphins in my life. But this is the happiest day of my life as I could be involved in saving the dolphins,” opined Amelia.

But pushing the dolphins into the sea was a mammoth task because even though the spinner dolphins (named so because they spin in the air when they jump) are the smallest of the species, each one could weigh around 50-60 kilos.

It was a great job done, opined Robert from the ESO.

Meanwhile the public is being requested to keep an eye on the shoreline all over Oman and report any sighting of whales or dolphins on mobile number 99045109.