24 February 2017

Stunning images of rare species of marine organisms found in Qatari waters are featured in Qatar Environment Day commemorative stamps Qatar Postal Services Company (Q-Post) launched yesterday at Arab Postal Stamps Museum at Katara. The six postage stamps and two souvenir sheets, which will be available starting Monday, depict hermit crab; sea slug; coral polyps and cnidarian, annelidan and crustacean species. “Q-Post has decided to issue special stamps to mark Qatar Environment Day, which falls on February 26, to raise awareness among people in Qatar about our country’s rich marine resources that not many people know,” said Ali Ebrahem Sayyar, Head of Public Relations at Q-Post. 

This is not the first time Q-Post has issued commemorative stamps for Qatar Environment Day celebrations. “We have done this before as well featuring some species of fish and we look forward to more editions. This year we came up with something very unique. Many people don’t know that such organisms thrive in Qatari seas,” said Sayyar. “Every year, we try to come up with commemorative stamps related to Qatari environment, which can be about the sea or the desert which we release to coincide with Qatar Environment Day." "We have done this project in cooperation with the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, which provided us with Qatari and scientific names of the organisms, ” Sayyar said. A total of 40,000 units have been printed for each of the six stamps which come in 50 dirhams, QR3 and QR4 denominations. 

For stamp collectors, some 2,000 units of first day covers, each of which costs QR17, will also be available . The souvenir sheets, which come in two designs priced at QR5, will also be made available on Monday with 10,000 copies printed. The photos were taken by underwater photographer Khaled Zaki while Abdellatif Zaian provided the design. A scuba diving instructor for quarter of a century, Zaki said he took the photos in late 2015 and late last year in Mesaieed area. “These photos show micro-creatures which need special camera, lens, lighting and setup,” he said. “Every time I dive, I take around 200 to 250 photos, out of which I keep 50. Only two or three of them will be used for environmental studies or for magazines,” said the award-winning photographer. Eight terabytes of images has been taken by Zaki for the this project, which he hopes would open the eyes of people on the importance of taking care of the spectacular and diverse marine life the country boasts of.

© The Peninsula 2017