Half a Century Ago: Sea Brings Sultan to Shinas
In September 1978, the coasts of Shinas State in Oman witnessed a rare incident when the waves of the sea cast ashore a large, stranded whale on the beaches of the Asr Bani Saad village. It measured approximately 16 meters (53 feet) in length, with a width of 4.6 meters and a height of about 2.4 meters. This whale was of a species locally known as "Al-Naham" or "Sultan of the Sea." It is believed that its death might have been caused by a injury from a ship, as it died at sea before being carried to the shoreline by currents. Similar incidents did not occur again until subsequent years. The 1978 event is among the earliest journalistic records documenting society's and official bodies' interest in marine life. It is also thought that some whale species, which can reach up to one hundred feet in length, played an economic role at the time, particularly in the production of wax perfumes and amber. The repeated incidents in later years, such as those in 1995 and 2025, highlight a shift in the approach to these phenomena—from focusing on size and economic value to caring for the environment and protecting marine creatures. These events also underscore the historical connection between the coasts of Shinas and marine animals over the decades.
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