Researchers have discovered 6,000 rare Irawaddy dolphins in the mangrove swamps of Bangladesh and in the nearby Bay of Bengal, significantly boosting population estimates of a species that is in sharp decline in most parts of south and southeast Asia. Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society increased estimates of the marine mammal after conducting a major survey in
Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove swamps and adjacent waters; previous estimates had placed the population at about 450. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has listed Asia’s freshwater and estuarine dolphins as endangered, with their numbers dwindling to roughly 125 in the Mekong River, 77 in Malampaya Sound in the Philippines, and up to 100 in Indonesia’s Mahakam River. The Yangtze River dolphin, or baji, is believed to be extinct. Brian Smith, lead author of the study on the Irrawaddy dolphins — published in the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management — said Bangladesh was an “important sanctuary” for the species and that steps should be taken to limit threats to the creature, such as entanglement in fishing nets.
WCS