Gangetic dolphin documentary

[Guest guest]

IANS http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14565786 Dolphins are dying in

Assam Saturday, 24 November , 2007, 10:34

 

*Guwahati: *In Assam's Duijan town, dark silhouettes cruising silently in

deep muddy waters off the banks of the Brahmaputra river is a memory that

never dies out.

 

But the dolphins, or *xihu* as locals call it, are dying.

 

In Tinsukia district, of which Duijan is a part, - around 600 km from here -

the xihus are battling for survival against enormous river pollution and

mounting threats from humans.

 

Riverine communities in the floodplains are familiar with the xihus. Many

have watched them at play or spotted them keeping up with speeding

motorboats, diving and leaping near the front or bow.

 

The *xihus* surface intermittently from the deep waters to breathe before

quickly disappearing again.

 

But over the years things have changed. Their sightings have become rare.

The fishermen who once enjoyed their presence now kill them for use as

fish-bait. Dolphins are poached to extract fat oil, which when released in

the river, attracts fish in large numbers.

 

Conservationists say there are just about 268 xihus fighting a losing battle

for survival in Assam's vast river networks.

 

" Until recently there were four species of river dolphins in the world,

including the Gangetic dolphins of South Asia and the *Baiji* of China; the

Baiji is now extinct, " said Sanjoy Hazarika of the NGO Centre for North-East

Studies (C-NES) in Delhi.

 

C-NES has recently made a documentary, " Children of the river - the

*Xihus*of Assam " , which was unveiled last week at the India

International Centre in

the capital to press for urgent action for conservation of dolphins.

 

The film, which is currently in English, will be translated into the

Assamese language for another screening in Assam scheduled late in November,

he added.

 

The NGO has initiated an awareness campaign among the fishermen community to

educate them on the importance of conservation and also popularise an

alternative method of fish extracts that could be used as fish-bait to

reduce the poaching pressure.

 

Dolphins use sound to " see " . They use sonar or echolocation - making a sound

and listening to it bounce off objects - for finding food and navigating

without bumping into things.

 

Small gill nets being used by fishermen do not register the dolphin's sonar

system, resulting in accidental traps that suffocate them to death.

 

The use of gill nets, poaching for oil and huge chemical wastes that are

being dumped into the river by Assam's refineries have threatened their

survival.

 

The chemicals used by tea gardens for insecticides and as manure that find

their way into the river have added to the problem.

 

" The film, shot on four locations on the Brahmaputra, looks at how humans

and dolphins have co-existed, but also how that relationship is breaking

down in the face of economic pressures and poverty, " Maulee Senapati, who

directed the film said.

 

" The *xihus* are among the most beloved and most vulnerable inhabitants of

our rivers, less known than their popular sea cousins but equally friendly, "

said Hazarika.

 

The film is funded by the Ford Foundation in New Delhi as part of a larger

project of promoting conservation and saving the Gangetic dolphins in the

Brahmaputra.

 

" Four fishermen from Dhubri district had travelled to Patna Science College

for training on the alternative oil prepared from fish viscera, which is

used as bait to catch the naariah fish (Clupisoma garua), " said Hazarika who

is implementing the project.

 

" Not only that, they have also successfully tested the new method at Dhubri

ghat upon return, " he added.

 

" The project aims to form local groups in the conservation process, provide

an alternative to the poaching of endangered species and encourage green

tourism, involving village communities, " he said.

 

Gangetic river dolphins are critically endangered and protected under

schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. These freshwater mammals

are also found in West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

 

Some dolphins make ear-piercing sounds while hunting for food, which could

knock out any small fish within range. The dolphins then gobble up the

sound-stunned prey.

 

" Children of the River - The *Xihus* of Assam " has been produced and

scripted by Hazarika; Sher Chowdhury, a National Award winner, has given the

music; and Rajiv Mehrotra has lent his voice.