Endangered Animals Dolphins

About Dolphins

Dolphins are warm blooded mammals known for their intelligence and learning abilities. There are several species of dolphin. The biggest dolphin is Orca, which is 9.8 meters in length while the smallest is Tucuxi, 1.6 meters in length. The diet of dolphin mostly consists of small fish and squid.

Dolphins are found in rivers and oceans worldwide. Some species of dolphins are Amazon River dolphin, Baiji also known as Yangtze River dolphin, Atlantic humpback, Bottlenose dolphin, Indus River dolphin, Gangetic dolphin, Chinese white, Atlantic white sided, Atlantic spotted, Dusky, White beaked, Pacific white sided, Hourglass, Frasers, orca, Tucuxi, etc.

About endangerment of Dolphins

Human activities have destroyed their habitat and endangered animals dolphins. Construction of a large number of dams and barrages for producing hydroelectricity has threatened their existence. Moreover, siltation arising from deforestation has reduced the water level in the rivers. The low level of water in the rivers, combined with pollution, fishing, and hunting have made dolphins endangered animals.

Moreover, extensive oil explorations in the ocean beds have caused a habitat loss to the endangered animals dolphins. A great misadventure of British Petroleum has recently led to oil-spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The layer of oil deposited from the oil-spill between June and September 2010 completely devastated the marine life. No trace of ocean life was found in the area covered by oil-spill.

Noise pollution is yet another factor for the endangerment of dolphins. Noise produced from sonar navigations, oil drilling, and even ship engines create underwater disturbance. Due to this disturbance, dolphins are forced to shift from their feeding and breeding grounds.

Tourism promotion in the form of sight-seeing of dolphins, where they are made to dance and dive in the water before the audience, and capturing of dolphins for research and aquarium facilities have also endangered dolphins.

The "red list" of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed them as endangered animals. Bottlenose dolphins are not listed as endangered animals, whereas Gangetic dolphins and Amazon River dolphins are categorized as vulnerable. Indus River dolphins and Baiji (Yangtze River dolphin) are considered endangered animals.

World Wildlife Federation (WWF) has listed dolphins under flagship species. According to a survey conducted by WWF, an estimated 2,000 Gangetic dolphins are alive today. It is believed that Gangetic dolphins, along with crocodiles, sharks, and some turtles, are the oldest inhabitants of the earth. Gangetic dolphins are the most threatened cetacean, whose numbers from 5,000 in 1982 have reduced to less than half.

Conservation of endangered Dolphins

Conservation of endangered animals dolphins requires an active and concerned public interest. Several wildlife organizations such as WWF, IUCN, Whale and Dolphin Conservation society (WDCS), International Dolphin Watch (IDW), and American Cetacean Society (ACS) are playing a considerable part in conserving the endangered animals dolphins. Moreover, the United States government has placed dolphins in schedule-1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Therefore, it is important to save the endangered animals dolphins to prevent any imbalance in the food chain. A genuine concern and a determined effort can only save the endangered dolphins.