Final phase of marine mammal survey project in Musandam Governorate completed

Khasab: The Environment Authority has concluded the final phase of the marine mammal survey project in Musandam Governorate on November 1, 2025

The aim was to monitor marine mammal species in the governorate, identifying their distribution locations and seasons of presence, and creating an integrated database on them.

The final phase of the project saw the opening up to volunteers, with Asyad Shipping Company participating in supporting the project by having its employees participate in the introductory workshop and awareness events held on Basah Beach in Khasab.

The project team also organised visits to a number of state schools to introduce students to the project through an interactive game called "Searching for Treasure with the Whale Sabour," which combined education and fun.

Interactive workshops targeting rural women were also conducted in cooperation with the “Zari Khasab” project to create products and artworks inspired by marine mammals, in addition to organising a dialogue evening that brought together fishermen, students of the Environmental Council and a number of environmental activists to exchange experiences and proposals on protecting marine life.

Haitham bin Sulaiman Al-Rawahi, Head of the Wildlife Management Department at the Environment Authority, said that the last phase recorded 12 sightings, including the monitoring of the Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin, Spinner Dolphin, Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin, Long-beaked General Dolphin, and Yellow Spot.

He pointed out that the number of sea trips during this stage amounted to 9, bringing the total number of trips carried out since the start of the project to 41, with a total distance covered amounting to 5,367.8 km, of which 1,173 km were during the last stage.

He explained that the number of participants in the survey work during the last stage amounted to 15 specialists from the Environment Authority, in addition to a participant from the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, another from the Student Environmental Council, 10 volunteers from Asyad Shipping Company, and 5 participants from various media outlets.

Al-Rawahi explained that during the survey operations, the team used the “spinner spinner” application to record field data, in addition to devices for listening to and recording the sounds of marine mammals, a device for measuring chemical and physical factors, and a marine navigation device installed on the survey boat.

For her part, Engineer Aida bint Khalaf Al Jabri, head of the project team, explained that the final stage included surveying the coastline extending from Ras Musandam to the Lima district, in addition to a deep water survey experiment at a distance of more than 11 km from the coast, which is an experiment that was carried out for the first time within this project.

She added that the project contributed to documenting field data on marine mammal species on the coasts of Musandam Governorate, and raising community awareness of the role of these creatures in maintaining ecological balance.

Its results will also contribute to supporting the Sultanate of Oman’s efforts to protect marine biodiversity.

She confirmed that the project was implemented in cooperation with a number of civilian and military government agencies, including the office of the governor of Musandam, the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, the Ministry of Agricultural Wealth, Fisheries and Water Resources, the Musandam Naval Base, the ship "Shinas", the Coast Guard in the state of Khasab, the Royal Air Force of Oman, the Directorate General of Education in the governorate, in addition to a number of small and medium enterprises.

She indicated that the team will work during the coming period on analysing the data and presenting the outputs, while ensuring the continuity of data flow through reports submitted by the local community and fishermen through the hotline and the electronic link dedicated to that.

It also revealed a strategic vision to expand the implementation of this type of survey in various coastal governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, with the next destination to be announced after studying the priorities of the next phase.

The project's results will be presented later at a press conference, and the team will also prepare scientific papers documenting the project's achievements and research significance for publication in peer-reviewed international scientific journals.

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