KENDRAPARA: Forest officials will conduct a census for dolphins on january 19 in the water bodies of Bhitarkanika National Park and Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapara district and its nearby areas.
“Forest officials conducted dolphin census in Bhitarkanika and Gahiramatha for the first time in 2015.
Forest department had cancelled the census of dolphins due to bad weather in 2016-2017. We had counted 270 dolphins in the water bodies of Bhitarkanika National Park and its adjoining Gahiramatha Marine Sanctuary in 2015. Nine of our teams sighted 58 Irrawaddy, 23 Bottlenose, 123 Sousa Chinensis, 50 Sousa Plumbera, 15 pantropical and one finless porpoise dolphin”, said Bimal Prasan Acharya, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Bhitarkanika National Park.
The 2015 census revealed that Bhitarkanika was home to State’s largest population of dolphin, while Chilika lake was inhabited by 144 Irrawaddy dolphins. More dolphins were found in Bhitarkanika and Gahiramatha due to its bigger areas, he added.Gahiramatha was declared a Marine Sanctuary in 1997 by the State Government to protect the endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles. The Government imposes a ban on fishing each year within Gahirmatha limits from November 1 to May 31 to protect turtles.
Dolphins are often spotted at the water bodies in Khola, Nalitapata, Dhamara of Bhitarkanika and in the sea near Satabhaya, Pentha, Agaranashi, Eakakula, Hukitola, the officer added.Dolphins were included in the Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972, in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and categorised as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. The forest officials also counted 1,698 salt water crocodiles in January this year.