The mammal was probably best portrayed in Alexander Beliaev’s famous novel — The Amphibian Man. Ichtiandr, the Fish Man, had his loneliness shared with his pet dolphin under the sea. And then they got into prominence again in The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh as an American girl comes to the Bengal to research the Irrawaddy dolphins.
The loving mammals however have few friends in Bangladesh today to survive and their numbers are dwindling fast. Known as Shishuk in Bangla, the mammals were once a common sight in any rivers –their humpy backs suddenly breaking the water surface and then vanishing in a flash.
But then pollution and indiscriminate killing for their ‘magic oil’ have today reduced the dolphins population. Many of the rivers are today devoid of the animal that befriends humans very easily. Tales of dolphins saving human beings marooned in the sea are often heard.
The most well known dolphin in Bangladesh is the Ganges River Dolphins. They are strange looking animals with an extraordinary long snout, a tiny dorsal fin and large flippers. They live throughout the Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Karanaphuli and Sangu Rivers. Today, they are an endangered species.
Irrawaddy dolphins are found in rivers and in coastal waters that receive freshwater from rivers. They share habitat with the Gangetic dolphins in the waterways of the Sundarbans mangrove forest.
Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins and finless porpoises are occasional visitors to the mangrove forest but they live mostly in open coastal waters that receive freshwater flows from the Padma, Meghna and Jamuna Rivers. Spinner dolphins, Dan Tropical spotted dolphin and Omdo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are also our sea mammals.
Sadly, all of them are today threatened by fishing and pollution, Prof Benazir Ahmed of Zoology Department of Chittagong University said.
The Swatch of No Ground, the mysterious canyon in the deep of the Bay of Bengal, is still a safe place for dolphins and whales. They can be seen in large schools there. Only a few of us have the opportunity to witness their magnificent display.
In an effort to conserve whales and dolphins, Bangladesh Cetacean Diversity Project has organized a four-day Shushuk Mela, an interactive exhibition introducing the whales and dolphins of Bangladesh, at Bangladesh Shishu Academy starting today.
This probably will be the most interesting exhibition in the city for the whole week.
Categories: Bangla, Bangladesh, Daily Bangladesh News
