50% Drop In Dolphin Population In Odisha: Census

Bhubaneswar: Chilika’s Satapada, the famous Dolphin sighting place, saw a sharp decline in the population of the aquatic mammals this year. The number across Odisha has dwindled to 259 from 469 in 2018, according to the census report released on Thursday.

Odisha’s Forest and Environment Department had carried out the counting exercise on January 19 this year. The census covered aquatic ecosystems, including Chilika Lake, spread over the districts of Puri, Khurda and Ganjam, the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary and its nearby areas, Balasore district and the mouth of the Rushukulya in Ganjam district.

The number of dolphins sighted in these areas this year are as follows:

Gahirmatha – 126
Chilika – 113
Rushukulya River (Ganjam) – 15
Balasore – 5

Three types of Dolphins were sighted in Odisha – Irrawaddy(130), Bottle Nose(16) and Humpback (116). Irrawaddy dolphins live in the brackish waters of Chilika and river mouths.

Experts have attributed the sharp decline to migration of Dolphins to deep sea due to climate change and other factors. They ruled out death as a reason, stating that there has been no visible rise in the carcasses found. Further, the sightings depend on the weather and time of day, and also the factor that the census was carried out at max 10 km into the sea which rules out dolphins that might have migrated into deep sea, they added.