Irrawaddy Dolphin population rises

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Endangered Irrawaddy dolphins' number goes up in Orissa lake

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Bhubaneswar, Feb 27 (IANS) The number of endangered Irrawaddy dolphins in

Orissa's Chilika Lake has increased to 138 against last year's 135, an

official said here Wednesday. The latest figure was known after a census

carried out by officials Monday and Tuesday with the help of local

fishermen, chief executive of the Chilika Development Authority Sudarshan

Panda said.

 

The census was carried out with help from scientists from Japan University,

Tokyo, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, Natural History Society,

Mumbai, World Wildlife Fund and a few other organizations.

 

The census was carried out with head count as well as by using a system that

records the sound of the dolphins, he said, adding that 18 teams

participated in the exercise.

 

The Chilika Lake, about 100 km from here, is spread over Puri, Khordha and

Ganjam districts of the state and is home to the largest congregation of

migratory birds in the country.

 

It was declared one of the six wetlands of international importance at the

Ramsar Convention on Migratory Species of Arctic and Central Asian

Waterfowl.

 

Irrawaddy dolphins were first recorded in this lake in 1915. But their

numbers, movements between coastal and lagoon waters, and mortality rates

have remained undocumented.

 

Although dolphins in Chilika are not hunted for their meat, mechanised

fishing trawlers and tourist boats with large propellers often affect the

mammals.

 

The Irrawaddy dolphins are estimated to be less than 1,000 in the world.

 

Apart from Chilika, Irrawaddy dolphins are also found in the Songkhla Lake

in Thailand. While it is difficult to spot them in Thailand, the dolphins

can be easily sighted in Orissa.

 

Adult Irrawaddy dolphins range in length from two metres to 2.75 metres and

are thought to reach sexual maturity at the age of three or four years.

Adult females probably have only one calf every two to three years,

officials said.