Blue whale found dead in Balochistan's Gwatar Bay
Pakistan
Local fisherman Ahmad Baloch spotted the carcass near the Kuntani area of Balochistan.
(Web Desk) – A dead blue whale, approximately 35 feet in length, was discovered on Monday in the remote waters of Gwatar Bay, located between Pakistan and Iran.
Local fisherman Ahmad Baloch spotted the carcass near the Kuntani area of Balochistan. According to a statement from WWF-Pakistan, the whale likely died several days ago in the open sea and was carried into the bay by strong currents and rough waters.
While the exact cause of death remains unknown, initial assessments suggest the whale may have become entangled in fishing gillnets commonly used in the region’s coastal and offshore areas.
The blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) is one of three baleen whale species found in Pakistani waters, alongside the Bryde’s whale and the Arabian humpback whale. Based on its relatively smaller size, WWF experts suspect this may have been a pygmy blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus brevicauda), a subspecies found in the northern Indian Ocean.
WWF-Pakistan’s Technical Advisor, Muhammad Moazzam Khan, described the incident as a tragic loss for global marine conservation efforts. He noted that blue whales are typically found in tropical and subtropical Indian Ocean waters and are classified as endangered.
A blue whale, one of three baleen whales reported from Pakistani waters, was found dead in Gwater Bay, near the Pakistan-Iran border. Likely entangled in fishing nets, the 35-foot-long whale is believed to have died days earlier before drifting ashore.
— WWF-Pakistan (@WWFPak) June 16, 2025
WWF-Pakistan expresses… pic.twitter.com/ivAQbE2dwO
Khan called for urgent measures to protect these marine giants, including stronger federal legislation to safeguard cetaceans—whales and dolphins—within Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. Although currently protected under Sindh and Balochistan's wildlife laws, nationwide enforcement remains lacking.
The last recorded sighting of a blue whale in Pakistani waters occurred off the coast of Gaddani, Balochistan, on April 8, 2024.
Blue whales are the largest animals ever known to exist, capable of reaching lengths up to 33 meters and weighing as much as 190 tonnes.
