6000 Irrawaddy Dolphins found along Bangladesh coast

About six thousand rare Irrawaddy dolphins, one of the world's rarest species of freshwater and previously unknown population, were found along Bangladesh coast with a great hope for the survival of the rare species, said a study carried out by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
The study disclosed at the first international conference on marine mammal protected areas in Maui, Hawaii yesterday, however, warned that the newly discovered population is now under threat from climate change and fishing.
The researchers who carried out the study said that they have found about 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins in the freshwater of Sundarbans mangrove forest and nearby water area of the Bay of Bengal. They used rigorous scientific techniques in an area where little marine mammal research has taken place to document the new population.
Before the discovery of the new population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that the figure of the Sundarbans population was around 450.
Prior to this study, the largest known populations of Irrawaddy dolphins to date have numbered in the low hundreds or less- at least 125 in the Mekong River in Vietnam, 77 in the Malampaya Sound in the Philippines and up to 100 in the Mahakam River in Indonesia.
"This discovery gives us a great hope that there is a future for Irrawaddy dolphins," said Brian D Smith, the study's lead author.
"Bangladesh clearly serves as an important sanctuary for Irrawaddy dolphins, and conservation in this region should be a top priority," said Steven E Sanderson, the president and chief executive of the WCS.
He said thriving population of Irrawaddy dolphins exists in Bangladesh gave them hope for protecting this and other endangered species and their important habitats.
According to the researchers, declining freshwater supplies also pose a threat - from upstream water diversions like as dams and by rising sea levels caused by climate change that will see the loss of freshwater habitats.
These problems also threaten Ganges River dolphins, an endangered species that also inhabits the Sundarbans, they observed.
The Irrawaddy dolphin grows to up to 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length and lives in large rivers, estuaries, and freshwater lagoons in the South and the Southeast Asia.
The WCS has asked Bangladesh authorities to establish a sanctuary for the dolphins in the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
Dr Ainun Nishat, country representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said the finding was an indication that the ecology in the area is not dead yet.
"There is plenty of food, mainly fish, in the area for the dolphins to eat. What is now needed is to restrict fishing in the area to protect the dolphins," he observed.