Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 119, November 2014, pp. 1-13. | Page 2

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Kuwait Environment Protection Society (KEPS) urged authorities to make use of
the recently beached fin whale at Failaka Island as an educational tool for
students and the public alike, a statement by the Society said on Saturday
01.03.2014 (KUNA, 01.03.2014).
KEPS's director Wijdan Al-Eqab indicated in a press statement that the bone or
skeleton structure of the dead whale should be preserved and made ready for
display to the public at one of the museums in the country, preferably at the
Science Musuem.
This beached whale at Failaka Island has been found to be 14 meters long. Fin
whales are the second longest animals on earth and the second largest rorqual
after the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), growing to 27.3 metres (89.5 feet)
long and weighing nearly 74 tonnes (73 long tons; 82 short tons) (Wikipedia).

The 14-meter Fin Whale (Balaenoptera physalus Linnaeus, 1758) which was stranded on
the Kuwaiti Failaka Island on Friday 28.02.2014.
http://www.greenline.com.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?tp=5369
Al-Eqab said that word has reached KEPS through the social media that two
more beached whales have been found, one at the Abul-Hasania Beach and
another at the Jelaia'a Beach, both being of a much smaller size than the fin whale
at Failaka Island. In fact the size of the small ones ranged between one and oneand-a-half meters, said the director.
She added that fin whales roam many areas in the world including the Indian
Ocean from which the beached one at Failaka Island most probably came. She
also guessed that the whale had likely lost its way and was carried off by swift
currents to the Arabian Gulf. No reason for its death has been determined as of
yet, she said (KUNA, 01.03.2014).
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 119 – November 2014