Whale shark rescue mission planned

Whale shark sightings have become a regular event at Dubai Marina and the authorities and environment groups are debating whether to move them out.

At least three whale shark sightings have occurred since the first sighting around eight weeks ago when Dubai Police and the Emirates Diving Association (EDA) worked together to lead the whale shark out to the open sea. However, it eventually found its own way out.

With more sightings of different whale sharks reported, the most recent three days ago, a whale shark rescue mission is planned once the location of the shark can be pinned down.

Mohamamad Bitar, 27, project coordinator in the diving department at EDA, carried out a sight assessment yesterday at Dubai Marina.

"People need to be more aware about whale sharks. They are not dangerous to man but it is under discussion whether they should be guided out of the marina or left to roam. It is a debatable topic, after all it is their environment," said Bitar.

"We are trying to list the advantages and disadvantages of having the whale sharks here. If we lead them out they will only return, and blocking the entrance to the marina with a submerged net is not environmentally friendly and risks trapping a wide number of fish and the sharks themselves," he said.

Bitar said whale sharks may enjoy swimming around the marina because it is a quiet environment with not a lot of heavy traffic.

The whale sharks should not pose any problems to the yachts and boats that are required to move at a speed of 3 to 5 knots within the marina.

The distance the whale shark has to roam around in the marina stretches to about 4 kilometres towards Jebel Ali. Usually spotted on the east coast, it is not that uncommon to see them on the west coast, said Bitar.

At the moment there is no tracking device in use in the UAE but the EDA is working towards making it a possibility.