UAE Releases Baby Sharks Into Dubai Waters To Enhance Dwindling Population
Marine experts have released several baby sharks into a vast expanse of water off Dubai’s Jebel Ali coastline to boost the numbers of the dwindling species.
Following a breeding program led by Atlantis, The Palm, 11 Arabian carpet sharks – currently aged about two years old and will grow to about a meter in length – and four honeycomb stingrays were released into protected areas around the Jebel Ali marine sanctuary early Thursday.
Marine experts scooped the sharks individually into huge plastic containers and carried them at staggered timings to release each into the waters of the Arabian Gulf.
Kelly Timmins, director of marine animal operations and stability at the Atlantis, The Palm, which is home to some 65,000 marine animals, told Al Arabiya English that they have been at the helm of shark release programs – in conjunction with the UAE governmental bodies – for five years.
She said the Arabian carpet sharks – which are small and pose no threat to humans – were born and raised at Atlantis, The Palm, as part of the breeding program before they were ready to be released into the wild. The Atlantis currently has about nine breeds of sharks, including the grey reef shark, the Blacktip reef shark and the Zebra shark. The Arabian carpet shark is one of the smallest breeds of shark and inhabits coastal waters, mangroves, and lagoons.
“Nothing is manipulated; they just breed as per normal, and then our team takes care of the young, and then every so often we can do releases like this – only with government permission and involvement and only in protected areas,” she told Al Arabiya English.
A near-threatened species
The Arabian carpet shark, native to the UAE and wider Gulf, is classified as a near-threatened species, meaning its wild population is declining.
“Part of responsible releases is ensuring that they (the species) are native to the area. The other one is ensuring that they are kind of hardy species that have a really good chance of survival,” said Timmins. “And we also increase that chance of survival by making sure that we mix them with other species before we release them. In addition, we get them to forage for their own food.”
Shark releases, according to Timmins, are not just about boosting numbers of the species – which are under threat globally because of overfishing and habitat destruction – but also to spread awareness about the cartilaginous fish, which, she said, can often get a bad reputation.
Marine experts release a shark into the Arabian Gulf off Dubai’s Jebel Ali.
“We want to make sure that everybody understands that sharks aren’t this kind of vicious predators after them as soon as they get into the water,” she said. “And part of doing releases like this is to show different species of sharks and to show that it’s completely normal to release them back into the natural environment.”
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Now released, Timmins said the Arabian carpet sharks are unlikely to foray very far because of their breed – unlike other breeds of sharks.
“These guys…I would say they’re relatively resident. They aren’t big travelers,” she told Al Arabiya English.
“They do like to stay in localized areas; they will probably go and find a habitat that they’re comfortable in, and then they’ll just kind of reside there.”
“This is a beautiful area to release them because it is protected, and you haven’t got any of the other kinds of human threats or other elements like that that could put them at risk of not surviving as well. Sharks are kind of solitary animals, and they’re totally fine just swimming off and finding their own way and finding their own kind of new life in the ocean.”
The sharks will most likely coast the bottom of the ocean and feed off corals and crustaceans.
Recent sightings of predators in the UAE’s waters – including larger sharks as well as an “exceptionally” rare sighting of a killer whale – could be a nod to the fact that UAE’s rich marine life is swelling, said Timmins.
