10 Irrawaddy Dolphins (8 Calves) Found Dead In Mekong - 10% Of Population

[hatrack]

JOHANNESBURG - Ten dead Irrawaddy dolphins have been found in Cambodia's Mekong River, eight of them calves, pushing one of the rarest cetaceans nearer extinction, the environmental group WWF International said on Friday.

The deaths mean a 10 percent drop in the number of Irrawaddy dolphins living in the Mekong, previously thought to be between 80 and 100. They are restricted to a 190km (115 mile) stretch of the river in the Cambodia/Laos border area. There are believed to be about 1,000 of the dolphins worldwide, other groups being found in Thai coastal estuaries and a few other freshwater locations in Asia. "This is terrible news, making a serious situation even more critical," said Robert Mather, Senior Conservation Policy Manager of WWF's Greater Mekong Programme.

"This time of year commonly sees a peak in dolphin deaths, but 10 in the last two months is particularly high and ... none has been reported since May 2005," he said.

The WWF said at least one of the dolphins drowned after becoming entangled in fishing gillnets, the biggest threat to the Mekong population.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/34884/story.htm

[TomInTib]

1. Want to hear something REALLY sick? Warning- awful

I was a pilot on a PBR (Patrol Boat, River) 1969-72 over there.

We were instructed to shoot the dolphins to lessen the chance of collision. The Irrawaddy was very curious and on the surface a lot.
The carnage was horrible.

Now it seems what we didn't kill then are being killed by runoff (Agent Orange?).