Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary The Indian Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area in the Indian Ocean where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling. The IWC has at present designated two such sanctuaries, the other being the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. Repeated proposals at the IWC for a South Atlantic Sanctuary and a South Pacific Sanctuary have never reached the 75% majority needed to pass. The Indian Ocean Sanctuary was established by the IWC in 1979 after being proposed by the tiny island nation of the Seychelles, in its first meeting as an IWC member,
Penang Island known as the "Silicon Valley of the East" and a booming tourist destination. George Town's historical core is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, while its beaches and the Penang Hill, the tallest point in Penang, are popular amongst tourists as well. The state of Penang is named after Penang Island, which was, in turn, named after the areca nut palm ("Areca catechu", family: Palmae), also known as "pinang" in Malay. To this day, the island has also been known as the Pearl of the Orient, or "Pulau Mutiara" (The Island of Pearls) in Malay. The early Malays called the island