Whale sharks are seen near the offshore platforms of the Al Shaheen oilfield.
Doha: More than 50 whale sharks were seen near the offshore platforms of the Al Shaheen oilfield recently during the first aerial whale shark survey of the Arabian Gulf.
The survey, conducted by the Ministry of Environment (MoE) in collaboration with the Qatar Air Force and Maersk Oil, counted whale sharks in the area by using air force rescue helicopters .
Mass gatherings of whale sharks are seen at very few places in the world and the Al Shaheen oil field, which is operated by Maersk Oil on behalf of Qatar Petroleum, is among those few places where the world’s biggest fish are found.
“Arial surveys are important in order to get a population count of whale shark and other species that live far from the coast. We are very grateful for the support that has been provided by the Air Force,” Mohammed Al Jaidah, the leader of the Qatar Whale Shark Research project from MoE, said.
The Ministry has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maersk Oil Research and Technology Centre (MORTC) committing the partners to promote research of marine biodiversity in Qatar waters.
“It was a great experience to observe the whale sharks form the air. It was much easier to count them through this method than from a boat and we could cover a larger area. We hope that this trip is something we can build on for future surveys,” Al Jaidah added.
This week’s aerial survey, the first of its kind in Qatar, comes towards the end of a busy research season for the QWSR project. The project team, that includes David Robinson form Heriot-Watt University, has made frequent offshore visits in the May – September period during which time the whale sharks visit Qatari waters. They also deployed acoustic transmitters on individual whale sharks and acoustic receivers that can detect whale sharks that have acoustic transmitters attached to them.
In addition, satellite tags were attached to individual sharks in order to track movements within the Gulf and beyond and researchers performed photo ID and spot pattern identification. The researchers have also taken samples of fish spawn, which are considered to be the whale sharks primary food source.
This is the first year of a five year research programme. A documentary film highlighting some of this year’s research activities – including the underwater footage of whale sharks in Qatar – is set to be released in November.
The Peninsula
