Second nationwide dolphin survey commences at UP's Bijnor

New Delhi: The Union Environment Ministry on Saturday launched the second pan-India counting exercise for dolphins, which will assess the status of Gangetic dolphin along with Indus river and Irrawaddy dolphins.

The survey, Under Project Dolphin, commenced at Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh with 26 researchers in three boats, recording ecological and habitat parameters while also using hydrophones for underwater acoustic monitoring, a ministry official said here.

In the first phase, the survey will cover the main stem of the Ganga from Bijnor to Ganga Sagar and the Indus River. In the second phase, it will cover Brahmaputra, the tributaries of the Ganga, the Sundarbans, and Odisha.

The new survey starts three years after the previous that recorded an estimated 6,327 dolphins in Ganga, Yamuna, Chambal, Gandak, Ghaghara, Kosi, Mahananda and Brahmaputra systems, and a small population of Indus river dolphins in the Beas.

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar accounted for the largest numbers, followed by West Bengal and Assam, highlighting the critical importance of the Gangetic basin for long-term dolphin conservation.

This time the survey will include new stretches and operational areas to include a new species, Irrawaddy dolphin, found in the Sundarban delta and Odisha.

Such an expanded spatial coverage, the ministry says, will help update population estimates for this species, assess threats and habitat conditions and support improved conservation planning under Project Dolphin.

Along with habitat condition, threats, and associated conservation-priority fauna, the survey will generate robust scientific data to support conservation planning and policy action for river ecosystems.

Led by Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, the dolphin survey is being carried out in coordination with state forest departments and in collaboration with other organisations like WWF India, Aaranyak and Wildlife Trust of India.