A large pod of dolphins was spotted in the waters of Gwadar, WWF-Pakistan said, describing it as a rare sighting despite the presence of a Noctiluca bloom.
In a statement issued on Saturday, WWF-Pakistan said that the Noctiluca bloom, which turns water green, has been spreading to Pakistan since 2012.
In 2017, the bloom of Noctiluca was so intense that it covered the entire Arabian Sea, including Iran, Pakistan, India, Oman, and the Persian Gulf.
In 2025, the bloom of Noctiluca started occurring in Pakistani waters in November and spread along the Karachi coast.
Technical Advisor WWF-Pakistan Muhammad Moazzam Khan said: “The current bloom poses no toxic threat, and no associated fish mortality has been reported along the coast.”
He added that the current Noctiluca bloom is being misinterpreted in some reports and wrongly linked to pollution.
WWF-Pakistan is monitoring the spread of this bloom, which is now spread in patches along the entire Pakistan coast and is present in dense form in the area between Pasni and Jiwani.
The winter bloom is a characteristic of the northern Arabian Sea. There have been studies conducted by WWF-Pakistan, which indicate that the bloom is triggered by the spread of cold water from upwelling in some part of the Arabian Sea and its spread under the influence of eddy formation during this period.
Noctiluca scintillans is a small, free-floating organism that may appear in red, orange, green, or even colourless forms.
“Along Pakistan’s coast, blooms are most often green or orange and can spread extensively depending on seasonal conditions,” WWF-Pakistan said in a press release.
“Although the organism itself is not green, the colour comes from its internal symbiont, Protoeuglena noctilucae, which enables it to photosynthesise and grow rapidly. Because Noctiluca is naturally bioluminescent, its presence creates the glittering glow reported at night.”
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