Odisha: How Many Irrawaddy Dolphins Are There In Chilika? Count Begins

Berhampur: The annual dolphin census began in the Chilika Lake on Sunday.

A total of 18 teams including wildlife experts, Odisha Forest department and OUAT officials are taking part in the exercise.

The census began at 6 am and will continue till 12 pm.

Both modern technology and traditional methods are used for counting the dolphins, including Rangefinder, GPS and binoculars.

Enumerators sighted as many as 156 Irrawaddy dolphins during the annual census in Chilika Lake last year. The survey was conducted by the “Transact Survey Method” followed worldwide to count aquatic mammals.

In Chilika, 146 dolphins were sighted in 2020 and 150 in 2019.

In all, 544 Irrawaddy, bottle-nose and humpback dolphins were sighted in the Chilika Lake and along the Odisha coast last year.