Dolphin count drops in Odisha by about 50 % in a year

Bhubaneswar: There has been a sharp drop in dolphin count in the state. The count has declined to about 50% in comparison to last year. This has been stated in a report by the Forest Department on Friday.

As of not, the dolphin count is at 259; highest being at Gahirmatha with127 and followed by 113 at Chilika, 15 at Ganjam’s mouth of the river Rusikulya, and five at Balasore.

As per the census, while Odisha has 130 Irrawaddy dolphins, it also has 117 Humpback and 17 Bottlenose dolphins. This means that there has been a decline of 210.

Sadly, their number is decreasing mainly from Chilika Lake. While in 2013 Chilika had 152 dolphins, the numbers have dropped to 113 in 2019. Last year, the brackish lake had 155 dolphins.

This sharp drop in dolphin count has become a cause of worry for experts and tourists alike. Experts are of the view that over-population of tourists and excess noise pollution has led to decrease in numbers.

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