3-Oct-2018: India's first dolphin research centre to be setup in Patna

National Dolphin Research Centre (NDRC), India’s and Asia’s first dolphin research centre is likely to be set up next month on the banks of the Ganga river in the Patna University premises. It will play an important role in strengthening conservation efforts and research to save the endangered mammal.

The process to set up the NDRC started after the Patna University agreed nearly two months ago to provide the land. The university’s Syndicate had earlier stalled the proposal for over three years. Unhappy over the delay, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had threatened earlier this year to shift NDRC to Bhagalpur.

The dolphin habitat has been threatened and disturbed in the river. The water level has been decreasing and the flow has slowed down. Besides, siltation is increasing in the river. All this is not favourable for dolphins.

The Gangetic river dolphin is India’s national aquatic animal but frequently falls prey to poachers and is sometimes killed inadvertently after being trapped in plastic fishing nets and hit by mechanized boats.

The mammals are being killed at an alarming rate with wildlife officials saying poachers covet them for their flesh, fat and oil.

The mammal’s presence signals a healthy river ecosystem. Dolphins prefer water that is at least 5-8 feet deep. They are usually found in turbulent waters where there is enough fish for them to feed on.

Gangetic dolphins prefer deep water with adjoining shallow water. They live in a zone where there is little or no current that helps them save energy. If they sense danger, they can go into deep waters. The dolphins swim from the no-current zone to the edges to hunt for fish and return.

NDRC’s foundation stone is likely to be laid on October 5.

The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary, India’s only dolphin sanctuary, spread over 50 km along the Ganges, is located in Bihar’s Bhagalpur district. Bihar is home to around half of the country’s estimated 3,000 dolphin population. The state government has decided to conduct a study-cum-survey of the Gangetic dolphin in 2018 in the 525-km stretch of the Ganga river between Chausa (Buxar) in the west and Manihari (Katihar) in the east. The Wildlife Institute of India will help the government in this. The last survey was conducted in 2012 and nearly 1,500 dolphins were counted.

Gangetic river dolphins fall under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and have been declared an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Gangetic river dolphin is one of the four freshwater dolphin species in the world. The other three are found in the Yangtze river, the Indus river in Pakistan and the Amazon river.

The Gangetic river species — found in India, Bangladesh and Nepal — is almost completely blind. It finds its way and prey using echoes — with sound being everything for them to navigate, feed, escape danger, find mates, breed, nurse babies and play.