DUBAI A Dubai-based Italian researcher clicked a staggering 7,320 dolphin pictures in Dubai waters to zero in on the various species of the mammal that live along the coastline of Port Rashid and Jebel Ali.
Dr Ada Natoli, who has a PhD in dolphin studies from the UK, said the mammoth exercise was part of a year-long study based on dolphin sightings in the city.
“Every dolphin has a distinguishable fin. This makes us easy to identify them. We clocked 300 hours on boats and travelled 2,000 miles to track these animals,” said Natoli.
“So far we have identified over 120 dolphins, including 89 bottlenoses, 32 humpbacks. We have also spotted 11 finless porpoises,” she added.
Concern
Natoli said the survey has helped her track the occurrence of dolphins. “Now that we know they live so close to us, we must do all we can to conserve their population. Environment, pollution and over-fishing can take a toll on the species.
“This is a matter of grave concern as some of these factors could be responsible for their death.”
Since 2013, over 300 dolphin sightings have been reported by the public and recorded on the dolphin project website www.uaedolphinproject.org run by Natoli.
“We hope the data will prove handy for authorities to preserve the marine environment along Dubai’s coastal waters,” she said, adding she is planning to extend the survey to neighbouring emirates.
Two general surveys on dugongs were conducted by the Abu Dhabi-based Environmental Agency in 1986 and 1999, following which a 71 per cent decrease in dolphin sightings was estimated over the 13 years.
