Environment Society of Oman's movie to create awareness on endangered humpback whales

Muscat: Environment Society of Oman (ESO) launched a new video on Arabian Sea Humpback Whales, a dying out species, to raise awareness of the threats facing by the critically endangered animals.
The special short film is part of ESO’s effort to conserve the Sultanate’s population of Arabian Sea Humpback Whales. “ESO decided to launch this video as a mechanism to raise awareness on the uniqueness of this population, and to advocate for its conservation among various industries including shipping and port developments,” Suaad Al Harthi, Programme Director of ESO told the Times of Oman.
Speaking about how the video helps in protecting this species, she said, “through awareness raising of the fact that such magnificent species do exist in Oman and the need for their protection and the need for creating standard practices that contribute to the conservation efforts.”
ESO has been researching humpback whales for over 10 years, according to her.
“The research includes boat based surveys, satellite tagging and acoustic monitoring understand the population, distribution, abundance and behaviour of this population,” she said.
The video was filmed and directed by filmmaker Miguel Willis and produced by Justine Kwaan.
“Filming of this video took roughly two months and the most challenging part of it was filming the whales,” she asserted.
The high quality production also highlights ESO’s efforts to protect the whales and the many measures launched by public sector companies to minimise the dangers facing this species.
The film also features the harmonious sounds and images of the Sultanate’s majestic sea creatures.
She asks the people of Oman to protect the endangered animals of the Sultanate.
“It’s important to understand that these species are dependent on sound; so minimising noise pollution is important. There are also habitats that are critical to these animals. It is important to identify such areas and stop development activities in such places.
“There are also threats posed by shipping and fishing activities that could cause entanglement and ship strikes so it’s important to raise awareness and develop guidelines to minimise these risks,” Al Harthi said.
The film can be found on ESO’s Media Channel on YouTube.