New WWF study on threats to global whale population, including those residing in Oman

A new report from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and partners provides the first truly comprehensive look at whale migrations and the threats they face across all oceans, highlighting how the cumulative impacts from industrial fishing, ship strikes, pollution, habitat loss, and climate change are creating a hazardous and sometimes fatal obstacle course for the marine species.

The Environment Society of Oman (ESO) has contributed towards this assessment. Protecting Blue Corridors, released by WWF, has for the first time, visualised the satellite tracks of over 1,000 migratory whales worldwide.

The report outlines how whales are encountering multiple and growing threats in their critical ocean habitats – areas where they feed, mate, give birth, and nurse their young – and along their migration superhighways, or ‘blue corridors’.

As a result of these hazards, six out of the 13 great whale species are now classified as endangered or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Protecting Blue Corridors calls for a new conservation approach to address the mounting threats faced by whales and safeguard their future, through enhanced cooperation at the local, regional and international levels. The benefits from protected blue corridors extend far beyond whales.

Growing evidence shows the critical role whales play maintaining ocean health and our global climate – with one whale capturing the same amount of carbon as thousands of trees.

Since its inception in 2004, ESO has focused on developing a better understanding of the distribution and ecology of the different whales found in Oman’s waters. Echoing the call made in the WWF report for a new approach to conservation for whales, part of ESO’s objectives for 2022 include implementing a Conservation Management Plan, aiming to engage with local authorities to implement alternative solutions to harmful marine practices that threaten the whales’ survival.

For more information on how to support, make a donation, or to find out other ways to get involved, visit eso.org.om.