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Cambodia Mekong dolphins' survival rate
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:06 am
by Anchor Moy
Some positive news for a change - or relatively positive: the decline of the Irriwaddy dolphin community in Cambodia's Mekong is slowing. So, the population is not increasing yet, but the decline toward extinction is slowing due to better infant survival rates.
Also like to say
to the hard work that WWF has put into saving the dolphins in the Kratie region of the Mekong. Seems like they are getting some results from their work with local communities.
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/dolp ... -up-99915/
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 2:47 pm
by Jamie_Lambo
good news
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 11:28 pm
by prahkeitouj
I wish I could visit there soon.
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 8:23 pm
by Anchor Moy
One step forward, one step back:
Irrawaddy dolphin’s body tangled in illegal nets
Thu, 12 May 2016
Kong Meta and Igor Kossov
A vulnerable Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead in Kratie’s Sambor district on Tuesday after being caught in fishermen’s illegal gill nets, authorities and environmental watchdogs said.
‘‘I think this dolphin may have been dead for three or four days – its body was swollen and rotten, and its tail was tangled in nets,’’ said Seang Sokhim, a guard for the Koh Pdav natural dolphin pool.
Emma Fry, a communication assistant with the World Wildlife Fund, said the female dolphin was 183 centimetres long and weighed 80 kilograms.
This is the first time that locals saw a dolphin succumb to illegal fishing equipment, according to Sokhim...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/i ... legal-nets
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 8:37 pm
by phuketrichard
i went with my daughter back in 2011 to see them but she refused to take a boat with an outboard motor cause even she knew that the noise was disturbing to them
Perhaps if they don't die out, the locals will learn to only use kayaks in the future
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 9:00 pm
by Anchor Moy
phuketrichard wrote:
i went with my daughter back in 2011 to see them but she refused to take a boat with an outboard motor cause even she knew that the noise was disturbing to them
Perhaps if they don't die out, the locals will learn to only use kayaks in the future
The boat guys are supposed to cut the motor when they get close to the pod of dolphins to keep disturbance minimal. Kayaks are good, but not everyone can kayak, and the boats keep the locals employed and engaged with the preservation of the dolphins.
Anyway, if the dam construction at Sambor goes ahead, then there's little chance that the Mekong dolphins will survive. They are building another dam in Laos up near the other main pod of Mekong dolphins in the 4000 Islands.
So go and see them while you can in Kratie.They should be left in peace, but the money raised goes to their preservation, and the locals need an alternative to fishing in the reserved area.
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Thu May 12, 2016 10:00 pm
by John Bingham
The Mekong is at it's deepest at Sambor, just upstream from Kratie. This year has seen the lowest levels in the river in decades. I went to see them in August 2005, the river was in full flood and we hooked the boat up to a branch of a tree that is probably 15 meters high in the dry season. They are hard to spot because they mostly only surface for a second or less. I do hope they can survive, they are quite well protected and the river is relatively clean, nets are probably the biggest threat to them now that most explosive and electricity fishing is less common.
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 1:06 am
by Anchor Moy
Encouraging news : 4 dolphins born this year, for 3 adult dolphin deaths. As mentioned in the OP from Nov 2015, the population is stabilizing and continues to do so.
Cambodia’s freshwater Mekong dolphin population has increased by four, adding a quartet of calves in the first five months of 2016 while also seeing a drop in the mortality rate compared with last year.
This was encouraging news for environmentalists in a region where increased dam construction has raised concerns over the dwindling numbers of dolphins.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Landscape Manager Horm Chandet praised the births as good news for Cambodia’s dolphin population, revealing the newly-born pups had been found in Stung Treng and Kratie before adding that three adult dolphins were found dead in the same period – one of which had been trapped in a net.
According to a WWF Cambodia report, there were more than 200 dolphins in the country in 1997. But by 2010 that number had fallen to 85 and now, only 80 dolphins are confirmed to remain...
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/26288/ ... n-numbers/
However, even if they are stable now, the dolphin numbers have fallen by over 50% in 20 years so it will take time to reverse mortality levels.
Rare and amazing shot of a Mekong dolphin because they tend to stay in the water and don't leap about much :
Photo: KT/Chor Sokunthea
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:05 am
by hanno
I must have hundreds of photos with just a part of the back showing:-)
Re: Mekong dolphins' survival rate improving
Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 8:12 pm
by Алина Анисимов
John Bingham wrote:The Mekong is at it's deepest at Sambor, just upstream from Kratie. This year has seen the lowest levels in the river in decades. I went to see them in August 2005, the river was in full flood and we hooked the boat up to a branch of a tree that is probably 15 meters high in the dry season. They are hard to spot because they mostly only surface for a second or less. I do hope they can survive, they are quite well protected and the river is relatively clean, nets are probably the biggest threat to them now that most explosive and electricity fishing is less common.
They are attracted to the nets both inland and at sea,as it is easy food picking fish out of the nets. The biggest threats are the dams I would say. They get caught in the nets typically when they are being brought back in.