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Till now, I have heard of dolphins in Bangladesh but this is the first time I am seeing picture of one. It is really beautiful. Check it out.

The sad thing is this beautiful creature is an endangered species in Bangladesh. Dolphins are mainly found in South-West part of the country around the rivers of the Sundarbans, the famous mangrove forest.

Bangladesh is a riverine country. River waters not only help in agriculture but they are also habitats of many beautiful creatures and river dolphin is one of them. Because of rising population, over fishing, pollution, and global climate change, river dolphins are becoming extinct. People do not see many dolphins now days. BBC reports:

Experts are particularly concerned over the fate of two species - the Ganges river dolphin and the Irrawaddy dolphin whose numbers they say have significantly reduced over the last decade.

"This is probably because of intense human activities - such as farming and fishing - that takes place in their river and near shore water habit," said dolphin expert Elisabeth Fahrni Mansur.

"But they are also at risk because of the clumped nature of their overall distribution, which results in a patchwork of relatively small groups demographically isolated from each other."

While Bangladesh currently supports relatively large populations of Ganges river dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins, conservationists argue that it's crucial to address the threats they face now, while the potential for long-term survival of both species is still relatively high in comparison to other areas in Asia.

The majority of the deaths are caused accidentally by fishing nets. Fishermen do not catch dolphins but very often they get entangled in the net and drown in water.

Another major threat for the dolphins is the decline of fresh water in the rivers. The rivers actually originate from the Himalayas; flows over India and Bangladesh and fall into the Bay-of-Bengal. Bangladesh is at the lowest position. Due to water extraction in the Indian region, the ecology of the dolphins’ habitat is getting effected and threatening their existence in the long term.

Last month, the Sundarbans and the Cox’s Bazar sea beach of Bangladesh were nominated to the list of New 7 wonders in the world. After reading this news, I felt very sad. Because of our ignorance, we are destroying such a beautiful gift of nature to us; the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world. If necessary steps are taken to preserve the forests and rivers of our country they would not only increase our country’s bio-diversity but also will become a major source of earning through eco-tourism. Through this blog, I request my fellow countrymen to come forward and do something to save these beautiful creatures.

Related article:

BBC