KENDRAPARA: The Forest department kicked off its annual dolphin census in water bodies of Gahirmatha marine sanctuary and its nearby areas on Thursday.
Range officer of the sanctuary Debashis Bhoi said nine teams have been engaged to enumerate the dolphins during the three-day census. The teams comprise forest guards, locals and environmentalists. The enumerators will use GPS to map the exact location of dolphins. The census report will depend heavily on sighting forms.
The last dolphin census was conducted on January 17 this year. As many as 342 dolphins including 39 Irrawaddy, 22 bottlenose and 281 humpbacks were counted during the census. In 2020, only 62 dolphins (60 Irrawaddy and two humpbacks) were found in Gahirmatha. Around 126 dolphins were counted in the water bodies of the sanctuary in 2019.
For the first time, the dolphin census was carried out in Gahirmatha and Bhitarkanika National Park in 2015. Around 270 dolphins were counted in the water bodies of Bhitarkanika and Gahirmatha. However, the census was cancelled in 2016, 2017 and 2018 due to bad weather.
“The sighting of dolphins depends on weather conditions on the day of the census. The reduction in the number of dolphins in 2019 as compared to 2015 was due to bad weather and dense fog during the census,” Bhoi informed. Dolphins are commonly sighted in the sea near Satabhaya, Pentha, Agaranashi, Eakakula and Hukitola within the sanctuary, the forest officer added.
Enumeration figures