Rare Irrawaddy dolphins discovered in Bangladesh

From LiveScience:

6,000 Rare Dolphins Found in South Asia

By LiveScience Staff

posted: 31 March 2009

A huge population of rare dolphins threatened by climate change and fishing nets has been discovered in South Asia.

Researchers with the Wildlife Conservation Society estimate that nearly 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins, marine mammals that are related to orcas or killer whales, were found living in freshwater regions of Bangladesh’s Sundarbans mangrove forest and adjacent waters of the Bay of Bengal.

There has been hardly any marine mammal research done in this area up to this point.

Marine Protected Areas woefully inadequate for whales and dolphins: here.

Bangladesh dolphins get Sundarbans sanctuaries: here.

February 2012: Bangladesh has created three new wildlife sanctuaries for endangered freshwater dolphins in the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem – the Sundarbans, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), whose conservation work helped pinpoint the locations of the protected areas: here.

Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins: here.

Irrawaddy dolphin video: here.

Great new images of the Irrawaddy dolphin, courtesy of the Sarawak Dolphin Project: here.

LEAP’s new initiative – Irrawady Dolphin: here.

August 2011. The critically endangered Irrawaddy dolphin population in the Mekong River numbers just 85, WWF research has revealed. Calf survival was found to be very low, leading researchers to conclude that the small population is declining and at high risk of extinction: here.

Amazing pictures of the seal who narrowly escaped becoming a snack for a killer whale: here.