Thread: Mekong dolphins 'almost extinct'

Sad to say that the dolphins are critically endangered now, and there is not one program that is put in place to protect them either. I went to see the Irrawaddy dolphins the last time I was in Cambodia. They are very hard to see, because they are so rare. Unfortunately, it won't be long until they are extinct.

Pollution Kills Rare Irrawaddy Dolphins

BANGKOK — Pollution on the Mekong River is putting the rare Irrawaddy dolphins in danger of disappearing from Cambodia and Laos, according to a study released Friday by an environmental group.

The World Wide Fund For Nature Cambodia said that it has documented 88 deaths in the past six years of the Irrawaddy dolphin or Orcaella brevirostris along a 118-mile (190-kilometer) stretch of the Mekong River.
Irrawaddy dolphins.The population in the Mekong is now believed to include as few as 64 members, it said, down from 80 to 100 just three years ago.
Irrawaddy dolphins.The population in the Mekong is now believed to include as few as 64 members, it said, down from 80 to 100 just three years ago.
Researchers from WWF Cambodia said they found toxic levels of pesticides such as DDT and environmental contaminants such as PCBs during an analysis of dead dolphin calves. They also found mercury in some dead dolphins, a toxin used in gold mining that can compromise the immune system of marine animals.
The group said it was investigating the source of the pollutants, noting that many young calfs died of bacterial diseases that would not normally be fatal unless their immune systems were compromised by environmental contaminants.

"These pollutants are widely distributed in the environment, and so the source of this pollution may involve several countries through which the Mekong River flows," according to Verne Dove, the report's author and veterinarian with WWF Cambodia.

The Irrawaddy dolphin, which is related to orcas or killer whales, grows to up to 8 feet (2.5 meters) in length and frequents large rivers, estuaries, and freshwater lagoons in south and southeast Asia.

Scientists do not know exactly how many Irrawaddy dolphins remain in the world—researchers recently found a population of nearly 6,000 near Bangladesh's mangrove forests—but the species is listed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Mekong River subpopulation has been listed as "critically endangered" since 2004.

Seng Teak, WWF Cambodia's country director, urged Mekong River countries to develop a coordinated program to protect the dolphins.
"The Mekong River dolphins are isolated from other members of their species and they need our help," he said in a statement. "Science has shown that if the habitat of cetaceans is protected, then populations can show remarkable resilience."

Brian Smith, an Irrawaddy dolphin expert with the Wildlife Conservation Society, said the findings were surprising given that until now, the biggest threat facing the dolphins was fishing. He cautioned more research was needed to be done to establish a link between the deaths and pollution.

"Although pollution is generally included in the laundry list of threats facing these animals, it has generally been assumed to be of lesser importance compared to other threats, especially fisheries interactions," Smith said in an e-mail interview.
However, he said the extremely low survivorship of calves on the Mekong—and the fact that many carcasses were found with lesions—suggests that disease combined with pollutants documented in the WWF study "may indeed be an important factor threatening the population."

The Irrawaddy News Magazine [Covering Burma and Southeast Asia]

Originally Posted by phuketbound

there is not one program that is put in place to protect them either. ...Unfortunately, it won't be long until they are extinct.

You do talk some bollocks PB...the Thai government has had an active conservation program in place in Bang Pakong for some years now, and it's just past Bang Na so fok knows why you had to go to Cambodia to see them...the dolphins are not threatened with extinction here, in fact they come every year to feed and breed...

^I was talking about Cambodia. I didn't know that about Thailand. Good to know though. There is only one place that I'm aware of, where you can view them in Cambodia. That place is the town of Kratie.

Originally Posted by kmart

Chinese conservation efforts might appear to involve the Giant Panda only. Is it the only animal they don't eat?

cos panda's are cute, these dolphins are ugly

Originally Posted by kingwilly

Originally Posted by kmart

Chinese conservation efforts might appear to involve the Giant Panda only. Is it the only animal they don't eat?

cos panda's are cute, these dolphins are ugly

Wonder how they'd feel if someone cut off a Panda's arm (to put in a tasteless soup), and then just threw it back into a bamboo patch to let Chi Chi bleed to death..?

I may open a Panda Fin Soup restaurant, and see how popular we become.

Originally Posted by pompeybloke

Originally Posted by dirtydog

Mekong 'almost extinct'

Slight edit there. The once mighty Mekong is but a mere dribble these days. chinese damming 'up' river to blame. Dolphins and all else must die; thanks environmentally aware chinks! Cvnts don't even look after their own through the money grabbers

I suspect you really have no interests as to the nature of the regional environment, the river, nor the dolphin. Just a twisted conduit for a political platform.

Why should animals be protected?

If you are a vegetarian, I would understand concern for species disappearing; but if you are happy to eat an animal's flesh, I don't feel you have the right to criticize other people for eating dolphin or whale.

Preserving holy dolphins
Friday, 28 January 2011

The Supreme Patriarch of the Thammayud sect of Cambodia’s Buddhist clergy is to address the urgent need to protect the Mekong River’s endangered population of Irrawaddy dolphins at the launch of a Buddhist awareness project on environmental protection today in Kratie province, according to a press release issued yesterday by the World Wildlife Fund.

phnompenhpost.com

Originally Posted by kmart

Chinese conservation efforts might appear to involve the Giant Panda only. Is it the only animal they don't eat?

...YET

Laos dam plan threatens existence of rare dolphin: WWF
February 20, 2014

PHNOM PENH - A dam which Laos plans to build across the Mekong River could wipe out critically endangered dolphins in downstream Cambodia, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) warned Thursday.

If built, the controversial Don Sahong dam in southern Laos would be just a kilometre upstream of the main stretch of water favoured by the rare freshwater Irrawaddy dolphin, WWF said in a statement.

With an estimated 85 adults, Cambodia hosts one of the largest populations of the species -- which is recognisable by its bulging forehead and distinctive blunt beak.

Conservationists have called for the suspension of the hydropower scheme, saying any restriction of the waterway will curb the number of fish swimming downstream and cut off the dolphins’ main food source.

"If the Don Sahong dam is built, it will lead to the extinction of Mekong (Irrawaddy) dolphins," Chhith Sam Ath, WWF-Cambodia’s country director, told reporters.

"Dolphins are very important for Cambodia. They attract tourists, they are a national treasure."

nationmultimedia.com