Muscat: Oman Post, in cooperation with the Environment Society of Oman, issued a new series of stamps that highlights five of the endangered local species of dolphins and whales in the country.
The colourful stamps were shared by the Twitter handle of Environment Society of Oman. These new stamps are now available across all Oman Post branches. The denominations of the stamps are from 100 to 500 baizas.
The colourful stamps depict the beauties of ocean, namely the Arabian Sea Humpback whale, which is regular in Oman sea waters, Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphin, Blue Whale, Spinner Dolphin, and Indo-Pacific Bottleneck Dolphin.
Diligent efforts
Oman is known world over for its marine wealth, notably, turtles, whales and dolphins and the diligent efforts of the Sultanate to conserve these wealth. Environmental Authority, part of Oman’s government, as well asnon-governmental organisations like Environment Society of Oman have been rendering many services and programmes for conserving the environment, especially the marine environment.
Among the most famous types of whales that visit Oman are Bryde’s Whales or Tropical Whales, Blue Whales, Humpback Whales, Sperm Whales, Dwarf Sperm Whales, Cuvier’s Beaked Whale, Pygmy Killer Whales, Killer Whales, Melon-Headed Whales and False Killer Whale. It may also be noted that the dolphins seen in Omani waters belong to the whale species.
Among the places known for whale and dolphin watching in Oman are Masirah Island, Musandam, Dhofar, and sea off the coast of Muscat.
During the last century extensive hunting around the world of Blue whales resulted close to their and their populations have only started to recover slowly over the past decades following the global moratorium on commercial whaling. Blue whale song has been extensively studied globally, and several blue whale populations have been identified based on their distinct songs.
