Dolphin census hit due to adverse weather

Berhampur: The annual dolphin census in Chilika lake has been postponed because of adverse weather conditions over the last few days. According to officials, the first round of the three-day census was held on January 20 but it had to be stopped from the next day due to dense fog along with rain in the area, said Amlan Nayak, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Chilika Wildlife Division. The counting will resume after weather conditions improve, he said.

Nayak said the remaining part of the census will be carried out by engaging employees of wildlife division only. Along with wildlife division, over 100 wildlife experts from different institutes were involved on the first day of counting, he said. According to the 2023 census, the lake had a total of 173 dolphins of two species — Irrawaddy (154) and Bottlenose (19).

Dolphin has been included in Schedule-I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and categorised as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) red list.