A survey conducted in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra by biologists has brought to light that about 569 dolphins live in the region. It is believed that the actual number of dolphins could be much higher.
Image via Project Noah
The survey was a collaborative effort of the United Nations Development Programme, the Government of India and Global Environment Facility. It started off in May 2014 and had to be stopped for four months during monsoons. The research team led by marine biologist Ketki Jog and comprising of Mihir Sule, Isha Bopardikar, Vardhan Patankar, and Dipani Sutaria scanned 2,425 km on the boat extending to 17 nautical miles from the shoreline.
According to Sule, the objective of the survey was to ascertain the diversity of marine mammals along the Maharashtra coast. The Indian Ocean Humpback dolphin (sousa plumbea) and Indo-Pacific finless porpoise (neophocaena phocaenoides) were the two species found in abundance in these water.
Apart from these two species, the blue whale and the Bryde’s whale were also spotted.
“An estimation of their population can only be done after we analyse the data we have,” said Jog.
Mr. N. Vasudevan, the nodal officer of the project and Chief Conservator of Forests expressed happiness over the results. .
“The survey is a first-of-its-kind, perhaps a first in the country. The team will once again return to the waters to assess the population of these cetaceans,” he said.
Counting Dolphins
The scientists used transect survey method in which the dorsal fin of the mammals were photographed. Thereafter, each individual dolphin was identified by analyzing a distinctive mark or a groove on its dorsal fin, and given ID numbers. On the basis of this identification, biologists will estimate the population of these marine animals.
Most of the dolphins were sighted near estuaries. This could indicate their preference for waters rich in nutrients flowing in from fresh water resources. The ideal spots for sighting the dolphins has been identified as the coastline between the villages Bhogwe and Mhapan, and Vijaydurg creek.
The finless porpoises were found between Bhogwe and Nivati villages, and Khawane to Mochemad villages along the coast.
Growing Tourist Attraction
Dolphin tourism in Sindhudurg, though in its nascent stage is rapidly becoming popular. In order to understand its current status and operation and to study the impact of dolphin tourism on the ecology and habitat of the dolphins, the scientists interacted with local fishermen and hotel owners. The importance of sensitization and awareness among fisher folk with regard to dolphin behaviour was realized by the experts.
The scientists took about 19 boat rides with different tour operators and noted that the boatmen operating the tours were indeed sensitive to dolphin behaviour and wary of disturbing them. There is a need to educate and create awareness among the tourists and towards that end, the scientists were designing posters and providing guidelines to tour operators requesting tourists to follow certain norms while on their dolphin tour. “Growing numbers of high-speed parasailing crafts are a matter of concern,” they said.
In all there are 35 tourism units in the district. Of these Devbag and Tarkarli villages have the most; about 15 units plying 300- 350 boats and generating a revenue of about Rs 4.5 crore a year.
Conservationists opine that the ground rules need to be defined at this stage in order to ensure sustainability in the future. Regulatory measures have to be put in place. Making the tour operators a stake holder in conservation would make it a win-win situation.
Dolphin tourism in Maharashtra is still in its infancy. It is the ideal time to convert it into more of an educational and scientific tourism rather than let it go the commercial way and suffer an early death.
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