Residents have been warned to steer clear of two whale sharks that have been spotted in Abu Dhabi's waters in recent weeks.
Whale sharks, which can grow to the size of a bus, pose no threat to humans but are listed as vulnerable species.
Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, who are monitoring the fish, said a juvenile whale shark returned to Al Raha after last being seen in the area, near Aldar headquarters, a week ago.
The agency had been monitoring it for six weeks and, after noticing it lost weight, began supplementing its diet with krill supplied by the National Aquarium Abu Dhabi.
Their plan is to continue feeding and monitoring the whale shark until it returns to the open waters.
Though they are the largest fish in the sea, whale sharks feed on small crustaceans. They are filter feeders, opening their large mouths to suck in water and filter out any plankton or krill. The remaining water is forced back out through their gills.
The agency is also monitoring a second whale shark nearby in Al Bahia. It warned people not to swim or dive with the seven-metre male to protect the whale shark. Fishing is also banned in the area.
"Considered endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list of threatened species, whale sharks appear occasionally in the marinas and waterways of Abu Dhabi during this time of year and are not harmful," it said in September, when another whale shark was spotted in the same area.
“If you come across a whale shark, we urge you to not approach it and for boat drivers to keep a safe distance.”
Last month, marine experts removed a fishing hook caught in the juvenile whale shark's fin.
Security staff tipped off the agency and an employee jumped into the water to remove the fishing equipment.
“There were three hooks and the sinker was a spark plug, so it wasn’t the most sophisticated fishing operation,” said Winston Cowie, marine policy manager at the agency, who removed the hook.
“We have noticed there are a few fishing lines in the area, which are used by people fishing from the side of the canal. They will put some bait out and they will leave their line out for the day and come and collect it.
“The shark swims quite close to the side of the canal, so what we think happened was it just got inadvertently caught on one of these as it passed and it kept going.”
Mr Cowie said the shark was not upset by the removal
Whale sharks are believed to live as long as 130 years and are found in all warm waters of the world, although there are only thought to be around 7,000 left in the wild.
Despite their size, some have been captured and displayed in aquariums. A female whale shark with extensive abrasions was rescued from shallow waters in 2008 was briefly kept in Dubai’s Atlantis. However, the aquarium released it in 2010, after 19 months in captivity.
A tracker monitoring her movements fell off after 33 days, when she was in the waters off the coast of Qatar.
The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi asked anyone who sees whale sharks to get in touch on 800555.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
INDIA SQUADS
India squad for third Test against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
A timeline of the Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language
- 2018: Formal work begins
- November 2021: First 17 volumes launched
- November 2022: Additional 19 volumes released
- October 2023: Another 31 volumes released
- November 2024: All 127 volumes completed
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Director: Jon Watts
Stars: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon
Rating:*****
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The view from The National
