The highly anticipated three-day annual dolphin census commenced on Monday in the Chilika Wildlife Division, following the mid-winter waterfowl count conducted earlier. This significant exercise aims to gather updated data on the dolphin population in Chilika, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon and a biodiversity hotspot.
A total of 18 groups, each comprising 5-8 members, are participating in the enumeration process. These teams include experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and are equipped with essential tools such as Chilika maps, binoculars, spotting scopes, GPS devices, and notebooks. The census effort is being coordinated under the supervision of Chilika Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Amlan Nayak.
To ensure accurate data collection and avoid disturbances during the census, local boat association members have been instructed to temporarily halt operations in the lagoon. Additionally, a day-long training session for the enumerators was conducted by scientists from the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) at Barkul on the eve of the census.
In the previous year’s census, 173 dolphins of two species were recorded in Chilika Lagoon. These included 154 Irrawaddy dolphins, a flagship species of the lagoon, and 19 bottlenose dolphins. The current census will determine whether these numbers have increased, decreased, or remained stable.
The dolphin census follows the one-day annual bird census conducted on January 18, which revealed an overall bird population of approximately 11.27 lakh in Chilika Lagoon. While the total number of birds dropped marginally by around 10,000 compared to last year, the diversity of species increased. This year, 196 bird species were recorded, a rise from 187 species in 2023.
The highly anticipated three-day annual dolphin census commenced on Monday in the Chilika Wildlife Division, following the mid-winter waterfowl count conducted earlier. This significant exercise aims to gather updated data on the dolphin population in Chilika, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon and a biodiversity hotspot.
A total of 18 groups, each comprising 5-8 members, are participating in the enumeration process. These teams include experts from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and are equipped with essential tools such as Chilika maps, binoculars, spotting scopes, GPS devices, and notebooks. The census effort is being coordinated under the supervision of Chilika Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Amlan Nayak.
To ensure accurate data collection and avoid disturbances during the census, local boat association members have been instructed to temporarily halt operations in the lagoon. Additionally, a day-long training session for the enumerators was conducted by scientists from the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) at Barkul on the eve of the census.
In the previous year’s census, 173 dolphins of two species were recorded in Chilika Lagoon. These included 154 Irrawaddy dolphins, a flagship species of the lagoon, and 19 bottlenose dolphins. The current census will determine whether these numbers have increased, decreased, or remained stable.
The dolphin census follows the one-day annual bird census conducted on January 18, which revealed an overall bird population of approximately 11.27 lakh in Chilika Lagoon. While the total number of birds dropped marginally by around 10,000 compared to last year, the diversity of species increased. This year, 196 bird species were recorded, a rise from 187 species in 2023.
