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Dolphin boom in Odisha’s Chilika lake

  • Posted By
    10Pointer
  • Categories
    Environment
  • Published
    12th Apr, 2021

Context

The population of dolphins in Chilika Lake, the largest freshwater lake,and along the Odisha coast has doubled this year compared to the last year.

About the Key findings

  • Three species were recorded Irrawaddy, bottle-nose, and humpback dolphins.
  • The number has increased to 544 compared with 233 last year.
    • The endangered Irrawaddy dolphin population has jumped from 146 in 2020 to 162 this year.
    • The highest growth was noticed in the case of humpback dolphins from 2, in 2020 to 281, in 2021.
    • The number of bottle-nose dolphins increased from 23 in 2020 to 54 this year.
  • Reasons: The reasons behind the rise are considered to be as:
    • The eviction of illegal fish enclosures
    • Declaration of encroachment-free water
    • Regulations imposed during the Covid-19

Irrawaddy Dolphin

  • The Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaellabrevirostris) is a euryhaline species of oceanic dolphin.
    • It is categorized as endangered in the IUCN list.
  • It is not a true river dolphin but an oceanic dolphin that lives in the brackish water near coasts, river mouths, and estuaries.
  • It has subpopulations in freshwater rivers which include the Ganges and the Mekong, as well as the Irrawaddy River from which it takes its name.
  • Its ranges from the Bay of Bengal to New Guinea and the Philippines.
  • The only concentrated lagoon populations are found in Chilika Lake, Odisha,and Songkhla Lake in southern Thailand.

Bottlenose dolphins

  • Genus:Tursiops
  • Family: Delphinidae (family of oceanic dolphin)
  • They are categorized under the ‘least concern’ of IUCN
  • They inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide andare found everywhere except for the Arctic and Antarctic Circle regions.

Humpback dolphin 

  • Scientific name:Sousa plumbea
  • Family:Delphinidae
  • The species is currently categorized as Endangered.
  • It ranges from Southern Africa to Western Indochina, East Africa, the Middle East, and India.

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