Karnataka: Want to see dolphins leaping playfully? Visit Devbagh

KARWAR : Next time when you are in Devbagh near Karwar, hold your breath! Just fix your gaze on the Kali river and you will see dolphins playfully leaping. The Karnataka Forest Department has come out with a unique plan to enable tourists to catch a glimpse of dolphins, free of cost.

The department, through its Marine and Coastal Ecosystem Cell, has decided to allow people to have a clear view of marine life from a particular point in Devbagh - a first of its kind experiment in the country.

Dolphins are indicators of a healthy ecosystem. They thrive in clean waters.  The proposal is a new one, but has been inspired from an old habit of the people of Karwar who jostle to watch dolphins in the Kali river estuary.

Several types of dolphins have been spotted: Expert

“Normally, people watch dolphins from the Kali River bridge. Our Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Cell decided to build a platform from where dolphins can be spotted at Devbagh,” Vasanth Reddy, Conservator of Forests, Uttara Kannada district, told TNIE.

At present, Devbagh Jungle Lodges and Resorts organises ‘Dolphin Safari’ twice every day by taking tourists in a boat. However, the locals say the sight of dolphins is not an unusual thing for them. “I have seen dolphins from a very close range here. Sometimes they are in groups and sometimes single,” said Kiran Vasudevamurthy, a student of Marine Biology Department (MBD), Karnataka University Dharwad (KUD).

Suraj S Pujar, another researcher at MBD, KUD said there are many varieties of dolphins which have been sighted here. “Humpback dolphin can be commonly sighted and sometimes finless porpoise can be seen. Both thrive in shallow waters. There are some rare ones too like pan-tropical spotted dolphin and spinner dolphin,” said Shivakumar Haragi, Assistant Professor, MBD, KUD.