Carcass of Gangetic Dolphin found floating in Odisha river

Forest department officials said the carcass of the Gangetic Dolphin was caught by a fisherman of Kruttibaspur village in Bhadrak district when he was pulling in his net in Salandi river on Wednesday.

Published on: Feb 18, 2021, 22:56:25 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

The carcass of a Gangetic Dolphin weighing a little more than 50 kg was caught in the net of a fisherman in a river in coastal Bhadrak district, officials said on Thursday.

The dead dolphin was at least 5.5 feet long and did not have any injury mark. (HT PHOTO).

Forest department officials said the carcass of the Gangetic Dolphin was caught by a fisherman of Kruttibaspur village in Bhadrak district when he was pulling in his net in Salandi river on Wednesday. Forest ranger of Bhadrak, Subas Nayak said the sarpanch of Govindpur gram panchayat informed him about the dead dolphin.

“The dolphin was at least 5.5 feet long and did not have any injury mark. After inspecting the carcass, I was certain that it was a Gangetic Dolphin as it had a long, pointed snout that is characteristic of all river dolphins. Both the upper and lower jaw sets of long sharp teeth were visible even when the mouth was closed. We are carrying out a post-mortem of the carcass to know how it died,” said the ranger.

DFO in-charge of Bhadrak Wildlife Division, Bikash Ranjan Das said in November last year a smaller female Gangetic Dolphin was found floating in Gobari river of Kendrapara district. “It may have travelled upstream from the sea or may have travelled from some other river. In 2005 too, we had found a Gangetic dolphin in Budhabalanga river of Balasore district,” he said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.