Rare Dolphins by the Hundreds Found in Bangladesh

More than 200 delegates from 40 countries are gathered at the Grand Wailea Hotel for the conference hosted by the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs.

"An immediate outcome from this conference is the recognition that managers of marine mammal protected areas have more in common than we realized," said Naomi McIntosh, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary superintendent.

"There are more than 500 existing or proposed Marine Protected Areas for marine mammals in some 90 countries," McIntosh said, "yet this is the first dedicated gathering of marine mammal and MPA experts and practitioners."

The conference provides an international forum for Marine Protected Area managers, scientists and educators to share common challenges and solutions in the protection of marine mammals.

Delegates represent marine protected areas of every description, from small or remote locations to sophisticated globally recognized sites. A number of delegates to the International Whaling Commission are in attendance, including those representing Argentina, Australia, Brazil, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway and the United States.

Also represented are the International Union for Conservation of Nature, U.S.National Park Service, the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission, Pelagos Sanctuary, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, and Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and contiguous Atlantic Area.

On Monday, the International Fund for Animal Welfare announced the first regional guidelines for responsible whale and dolphin watching across the Pacific Islands, developed by 35 representatives from 13 Pacific Island governments.

On Tuesday, the Wildlife Conservation Society revealed the discovery of a large population of rare Irrawaddy dolphins living in freshwater regions of Bangladesh's Sundarbans mangrove forest and adjacent waters of the Bay of Bengal - an area where little marine mammal research has taken place up to this point.

An Irrawaddy dolphin in Thailand (Photo courtesy Department of Fishery of Thailand)

Before this study, the largest known populations of Irrawaddy dolphins numbered in the low hundreds.

"With all the news about freshwater environments and state of the oceans, WCS's discovery that a thriving population of Irrawaddy dolphins exists in Bangladesh gives us hope for protecting this and other endangered species and their important habitats," said Dr. Steven Sanderson, president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which is based at New York's Bronx Zoo.

"WCS is committed to conservation of these iconic marine species from dolphins, sea turtles, sharks to the largest whales," he said.

Authors of the study include Brian Smith, Rubaiyat Mansur Mowgli, and Samantha Strindberg of the Wildlife Conservation Society, along with Benazir Ahmed of Chittagong University in Bangladesh.

Despite finding this large population, the authors warn that the dolphins are becoming increasingly threatened by accidental entanglement in fishing nets. During the study, researchers found two dolphins that had become entangled and drowned in fishing nets - a common occurrence according to local fishermen.

The Irrawaddy dolphin, Orcaella brevirostris, grows up to eight feet and frequents large rivers, estuaries, and freshwater lagoons in South and Southeast Asia.

In Myanmar's Ayeyarwady River, these dolphins are known for "cooperative fishing" with humans, where the animals voluntarily herd schools of fish toward fishing boats and awaiting nets helping fishermen increase their catches. The dolphins appear to benefit from this relationship by easily preying on the cornered fish and those that fall out of the net as the fishermen pull it from the water.

In 2006, WCS helped establish a protected area along the Ayeyarwady River to conserve this critically endangered mammal population.

WCS is currently working closely with the Ministry of Environment and Forests in Bangladesh on plans for establishing a protected area network for both Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins in the Sundarbans mangrove forest.

Funding is critical to sustaining these activities along with WCS's long-term efforts to study the effects of climate change on this habitat, support sustainable fishing practices, and develop local ecotourism projects.

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