Sightings and strandings of the cetacean fauna in the mediterranean coast of the gaza strip, palestine

Abstract

Palestine (27,000 km2) overlooks three seas; namely the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea and the Dead Sea. The first two seas are home to a considerable number of cetacean faunistic species. The current descriptive and cumulative study came to document the sightings and strandings of the cetacean fauna in the Mediterranean coast of the Gaza Strip only, which is located in the far southwestern of Palestine with a length of 42 km on the Mediterranean Sea. The study extended for 40 years starting from 1982 to 2021. It relied much on field visits in addition to meetings and discussions with stakeholders regarding the sightings, strandings and even the bycatch of cetaceans. The current study showed six strandings of dead baleen whales during the past four decades. At least two stranding events were recorded for the Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus), which is actually the second largest animal on Earth after the Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus). The seawaters of the Gaza Strip were sometimes witnessing special visits, of a number of dolphins with their pods floating at different distances from the sea shore. The number of strandings of the Short-beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis) was recorded not more than 3 - 4 times over the past four decades. In contrast, an average number of 1 - 3 strandings was recorded annually for the Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) over the past two decades. The causes of local cetacean strandings included incidental falling into fishing nets, shooting by Israeli forces stationed at the Mediterranean Sea, injury and diseases, hunting too close to shore, and climate change. Although the event remained vague, the study highlighted the use of Israel to dolphins equipped with spy devices and cameras to photograph and spy on the marine training activities of the Palestinian resistance in late 2015. Finally, the role of different parties should be harmonized to ensure that human activities are sustainable and compatible with the mandate to preserve local marine natural resources including cetaceans.