Oceanic resources add splendour to Lanka - Marine expert

By Mohammed NAALIR

Sri Lanka is beautiful with attractions such as the marine resources. Sri Lankan waters is filled with valuable aquatic resources including marine mammals.

Tail slapping

There are so many marine mammals varieties in Sri Lankan waters.

It has a variety such as whales, dolphins and dugongs. Commonly they are called cetaceans.

Up to 32 different pieces of this family are possible in Sri Lanka, Marine Researcher Howard Martenstyn said.

He said that over 1,000 varieties of fish are available in Sri Lankan waters including sailfish, sort fish, marlin and tuna. Tunas will grow to nearly 200 kilos.

Martenstyn who is engaged in marine research said that whales have been categorised into three different families.

Oceanography is playing a pivotal role in the marine life. It is crucial for one to know of oceanography.

It will help fishermen as well as the marine mammal enthusiasts to identify the fish and mammal locations in the ocean, according to Martenstyn.

Understanding of oceanography is a great asset. Going into the sea looking for marine mammals is an interesting one.

Martenstyn said he has studied thoroughly of ocean. There are so many occurrences in the ocean such as food change, undercurrents, upwelling, conquers, tides, surface currents and monsoonal currents. All of these occurrences exert influence in the marine life.

The food is moving from place to place. If one followed the food the marine mammals can be seen. It may be fish or marine mammal.

A pod underway

Feeding

Cruising. Nose blow hole on head and muscular body.

Sri Lanka has a number of amazing submarine canyons that includes minor and major canyons. There are nine major submarine canyons in Sri Lanka. These canyons are formed out of river flows.

Size of mammals is intimidating to a lot of people. Whales and dolphins are harmless.

There are close connections between the shift of mammals and the climatic changes, Martenstyn pointed out.

He said that some mammals migrate in the season, some monthly, some daily.

Dolphins migrate every day from deep see to the shallow water to rest and socialise. They will get back to the deep sea in the evening. A dolphin will travel from 30 to 40 kilometres daily to its location from shallow waters. They are called open ocean feeders.

Mammals come to Sri Lankan waters due to a number of submarine canyons.

Vertical migration also take place daily when food moves from one place to another. The food moves up in the night time. Due to this reason vertical migration takes place.

There are several migrations that take place such as daily migration, monthly and tidal migration. Humpback dolphin is also an occurrence in the marine life. The blue whales migrate annually. There are a number of whales such as sperm whales and pilot whales.

There are many mammal locations in Sri Lankan waters such as Trincomalee, Dondra head. In Sri Lanka there is a submarine canyon in front of the lighthouse.

There is a sub marine canyon in Alampil, Dondra head canyon comes from Nilwala Ganga and bases come from kumbukkan Oya.

There is also a submarine canyon from Kalkudah. Trincomalee is one of the best submarine canyons in the world because of Mahaveli river.

It is the deepest submarine canyon. In other places only one canyon is found.

The sperm whale is presented as the world's largest predator - one of two significant attractions advocated by Centre for Research on Indian Ocean Marine Mammals (CRIOMM)and accepted for promotion by the tourism authorities along with the blue whale and the elephant as the largest land and marine mammals to be seen in one destination - Sri Lanka.

The sperm whale grows to over sixty feet and is the "deep-diving champion of the world" said to able to reach down to 2000 metres in search of its prey and not be affected by the "bends". It was a sperm whale which was featured by Herman Meville in his book Moby Dick . It's fights with its prey the giant squid in the dark depths are legendary. Hunted to decimation in the last Century for the "spermacetti oil" in its bulbous head, the recent observation confirms that the sperm whale population has recovered, thanks to the Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary originally established in 1981 for ten years by the International Whaling Commission(IWC). Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC) which nurtures CRIOMM in ten nation declaration, called in 1990 (Arusha) and 1994 (Colombo) for the Sanctuary in the Indian Ocean to be for All Marine Mammals for All time" on par with sanctuaries on land.

Old charts show that Yankee whalers hunted these whales off the Gulf of Mannar. Thanks to the Sanctuary these whales now swim in peace in the waters of Sri Lanka.

Commenting on the incident, Dr Hiran Jayewardene who is head of CRIOMM said "To see one of these creatures is awe-inspiring. To see over one hundred in one place at one time, is overwhelming! It is truly a resource this nation must be proud to host as part of her natural heritage.

We are duty bound to work internationally to protect it for posterity. My wish is that all Sri Lankans especially the children, can be given the opportunity to experience a whale in their lives and be touched by what is awesome in nature. What is right here and on our doorstep is truly very special and must make us very proud as a nation."