• REASONS FOR DOLPHIN DEATHS 
• Motorboat propeller strikes, other injuries
  • Entanglement in fishing nets  Illegal hunting
• RECOMMENDATIONS
• Ban on mechanised boats
• Halt on dredging, netting for fish
• Declaring Halda a dolphin sanctuary

Halda is an important habitat for the endangered freshwater Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista gangetica). Dolphins are an integral part of the area's ecosystem and their conservation is vital to the survival of a wide range of aquatic and endangered species, including turtles, gharials and otters.

However, the species has been disappearing from the river at an alarming rate for the past few years. Experts suggest that the Halda should be declared a dolphin sanctuary immediately to save the animals from extinction.

According to data from Chittagong University's Halda River Research Laboratory, a total of 39 dolphins died in the Halda River in the five years from September 2017 to October 2022. Of those, seven dolphins died this year.

Three dolphins died only in July. A dolphin was found dead in Halda river on July 21, while experts suspect it may have died after being strangled by fishing nets.

Earlier on July 20, another dead dolphin was found which was about seven-feet long and weighed around 90 kilos. On the 14th of the same month, another dolphin was found in Azimer Ghat area.

Prof Manjurul Kibriya, coordinator of the CU Laboratory, the lab conducted the first autopsy of such a dolphin in February 2018. It was found that the animal died due to injuries caused by the sharp propeller of the boat.

"At that time, we submitted a six-point recommendation to the authorities, including a ban on mechanised boats in the river, a halt on dredging and netting for fish, and declaring the river a dolphin sanctuary," he said.

"The authorities implemented most of those recommendations. As a result, the death rate was reduced."

However, Prof Kibriya said the death of dolphins in the Halda is increasing due to motorboat propeller strikes or other injuries, entanglement in fishing nets and illegal hunting.

"The rate at which dolphins are dying in accidents in the river is much higher than the reproduction rate. If proper action is not taken in time, they will be wiped out from the river soon," he added.

In 2019, Bangladesh Forest Department formulated an action plan under "Expanding the Protected Area System to Incorporate Important Aquatic Ecosystems Project" for the conservation of Gangetic dolphins and Irrawaddy dolphins.

The action plan report states that the Gangetic dolphin is a third-tier animal in the food chain and the species is an important indicator of our river ecosystem.

Although the species is found in almost all the major rivers of Bangladesh, the northeastern regions with some upstream rivers have been a stronghold of the species.

According to the report, it is important to take steps to save the species before it is listed as an endangered species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Contacted, Forest Conservator Imran Ahmed of Wildlife and Nature Conservation zone, Dhaka, said, "The action plan was approved last year. Since then, we have started the process of undertaking various projects to conserve freshwater dolphins."

"We are working towards implementing the recommendations of the action plan," he added. However, he did not elaborate on the details as to how the implementation will take place.