File pictured shared by Environment Society of Oman used for representation
Doha, Qatar: Arabian Sea humpback whales were thought to be sedentary, 82 of them living in the same part of Arabian Sea for around 70,000 years. Then one of the females, known as Luban, broke the pattern. She travelled east, remained there for a month, and returned home in a 7,000km round trip.
The scientists who attached 14 satellite tags at the Gulf of Masirah and Hallaniyat Bay - a marine sanctuary about 50km off the Omani coast - believe this to be the first direct evidence of a humpback crossing the Arabian Sea. Their findings were published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.
“The Arabian Sea humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae; ASHW) is understood to be the only population of this species that does not undertake long-range seasonal migrations between high- and low-latitude waters,” the authors wrote in the research paper, published on June 19, 2026.
The study found that Luban travelled to Goa, where she spent a month off the Indian coast before returning back home. The researchers believe she might have been travelling to find food or to reproduce.
The research noted that the anomalous whale that departed from homebody life to visit India could be a sign of a shift within the population.
“The Arabian Sea provides unique conditions allowing a once-migratory species to completely change its ecology. It’s a testament to how extraordinary the region is,” wrote the study’s co-author Suaad Al Harthi, executive director of the Environment Society of Oman.
“We hope their adaptability will help ASHWs in uncertain times when their domain is influenced by accelerated climate change,” Al Harthi said.
Researchers now hope to discover whether females move around more than males, or if the study's sample size was too small, meaning others may have made similar journey without being spotted.
