{"id":39574,"date":"2018-12-28T17:41:17","date_gmt":"2018-12-28T12:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=39574"},"modified":"2018-12-28T17:41:17","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T12:11:17","slug":"river-dolphins-go-missing-in-sunderbans-as-water-salinity-rises","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/river-dolphins-go-missing-in-sunderbans-as-water-salinity-rises\/","title":{"rendered":"River Dolphins go missing in Sunderbans as water salinity rises"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/other-states\/river-dolphins-go-missing-in-sunderbans-as-water-salinity-rises\/article25843625.ece\">River Dolphins go missing in Sunderbans as water salinity rises<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>News:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Population of Ganges River Dolphin on the decline due to Rise in salinity in the water system in Indian Sundarbans.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Important Facts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sighting records in the study reveal that distribution of GRD (Ganges River Dolphin) is influenced by the salinity level of the waterways.<\/li>\n<li>According to research, unique body shape of Dolphins doesn&#8217;t allow them to remain submerged in waters with high salinity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Salinity in this deltaic system is influenced by the combined action of the following factors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hydrological modifications<\/strong> like water diversion and commission of large barrages upstream have had a great impact on the salinity profile of the rivers downstream in the Sundarbans.\n<ul>\n<li>Significant increase in salinity levels were documented in the river Ganges in India after the commissioning of the Farakka Barrage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Natural salinity level<\/strong> of the rivers is regulated by evaporation and recharge by rainwater as well as tidal flow downstream.\n<ul>\n<li>The estuarine channels in the Indian Sundarbans at present are mostly fed by tidal flow and have lost their freshwater connectivity.<\/li>\n<li>Five rivers namely the Saptamukhi, Thakuran, Matla, Gosaba, and Harinbhanga in central section of Indian Sundarban are also tidally fed and lost their upstream freshwater connectivity.<\/li>\n<li>Hyper-saline zone in the central part of the Sundarbans, which includes areas such as Raidighi and Patharpratima, have lost connectivity with the upstream freshwater flow.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Both the <strong>glacial melting and sea level rise<\/strong> due to climate induced changes affect the salinity level.<\/li>\n<li>The rise in sea level, triggered by climate change, is one of the reasons for the increase in salinity of waters of rivers and channels.<\/li>\n<li>Anthropogenic factors like reduced discharge from barrages, runoff from adjacent lands, and water abstraction for irrigation etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>About Ganges River Dolphin<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ganges River Dolphin is one of the four freshwater dolphins of the world.<\/li>\n<li>The mammal is listed in the schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and categorized as \u201cendangered\u201d by the World Conservation Union and enjoys high level of legal protection, nationally and internationally.<\/li>\n<li>The Ganges River Dolphin, or susu, inhabits Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.<\/li>\n<li>Ganges River Dolphin was declared India\u2019s National Aquatic Animal in 2009.<\/li>\n<li>This cetacean is blind because it lacks crystalline. It moves by echolocation, that is, by waves emitted by the dolphin that bounce off objects and help it create a mental map of its direction and movement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Other Freshwater Dolphin:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Amazon river dolphin<\/strong> &#8211; Pink river dolphin or Amazon river dolphin. This dolphin is the largest freshwater dolphin<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bolivian river dolphin<\/strong> &#8211; The Araguaian river dolphin, scientifically known as Inia geoffrensis geoffrensis, is a subspecies of the Amazon river dolphin<\/li>\n<li><strong>La Plata Dolphin <\/strong>&#8211; This dolphin, commonly called Franciscana in Argentina and Uruguay, lives in the R\u00edo de la Plata in the South East of South America<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>River Dolphins go missing in Sunderbans as water salinity rises News: Population of Ganges River Dolphin on the decline due to Rise in salinity in the water system in Indian Sundarbans. Important Facts: Sighting records in the study reveal that distribution of GRD (Ganges River Dolphin) is influenced by the salinity level of the waterways.&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/river-dolphins-go-missing-in-sunderbans-as-water-salinity-rises\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">River Dolphins go missing in Sunderbans as water salinity rises<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704860335},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}