The carcass of a 12-metre Bryde’s whale has been found floating near Sir Bu Nair island off the coast of Sharjah. Authorities said the dead mammal was towed to shore to enable experts to establish its cause of death. Dr Ada Natoli, founder of the UAE Dolphin Project, said three whale deaths have been recorded in the Emirates since December. She said the Bryde's whale found on Monday had most likely died after being struck by a vessel. “The 12-metre long carcass is that of a Bryde's whale, which can grow between 12 to 16 metres long," a spokesman from Sharjah Environment and Protected Areas Authority said. “Samples were taken from the whale to verify the cause of death.” Dr Natoli said it was crucial that maritime and conservation authorities worked together to ascertain how and why whale deaths were occurring. In June 2017, a 20-metre sperm <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/20-metre-sperm-whale-found-dead-on-fujairah-coast-1.83187">whale was found dead</a> on the Fujairah coast. And in November that year, the carcass of a massive blue whale, the largest animal on the planet, was discovered off Sharjah. Bryde's whales are common to areas of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans.
