The Irawaddy Dolphin

I am sure pretty much everyone out there has heard of Flipper, and I am sure that there are several of us out there that may have even caught a dolphin show or two at one of Sea World's many parks (yes, I know about Blackfish. No, I will not discuss it). THOSE dolphins are a species known as Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins, but did you know that there are other species of dolphin as well? Orcas, for instance, or Killer Whales, are not actually whales at all but they are actually a very large species in the dolphin family.

But I'm not here to talk about any of those. I am here to talk about ANOTHER species of dolphin.....

The Irrawaddy Dolphin. 

The Irrawaddy dolphin (or Orcaella brevirostris) is a species of dolphin that is primarily found in estuaries and mangrove areas of South East Asia with freshwater populations occurring in river systems.

• Social Structure: There are usually no more than ten individuals to a group, and solitary individuals are rarely seen.
• Diet: This animal likes to munch on fish and crustaceans.

Physical Characteristics

The Irrawaddy dolphin can be identified by its bulging forehead, short beak, 12-19 teeth on each side of its jaw, with a broadly triangular pectoral fin, and a small dorsal fin on the rear end of the back. Its identifying colors range from a slaty blue to a slaty grey with the underbelly usually being much paler.


When it's diving, this breathes in 70-150 second intervals. The head usually appears first, and then the back, but the tail is rarely ever seen. It's body size is 180 - 275 cm (about 71 in. - about 108 in.)


Population Distribution: 

This species has small populations that are spread out over a large area. Freshwater populations occur in the river Mahakam in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), the Ayeyarwady (formerly Irrawaddy) of Myanmar (formerly Burma), and the Mekong Delta of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Populations have also been reported in isolated brackish (both saltwater and freshwater) bodies of water such as Chilka Lake in India and and Songkhla Lake in Thailand.


Conservation Status: 

Severe declines in population numbers have been occurring in parts of Thailand, and in the Mahakam freshwater sub-populations. The latter was classified by the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered in 2000 because only a few tens of dolphins were found in an approximately 300 km segment of river (that's about 186 miles give or take).

The population of Irrawaddy dolphins residing in the Philippines in the Malampaya Sound (Palawan) seem to be geographically isolated from other populations and a survey that was done in 2001 put their population numbers at about 77 individuals which gave them the listing of "critically endangered" because that was how many individuals that were found in a 133km(2) area (Google Conversion puts that at about 82.6 miles).


Main Threats:

The Irrawaddy dolphins are not an overly exploited animal, but they are being threatened with extinction due to fishing (being accidentally caught in fishermen's nets), habitat degradation thanks to the building of dams, deforestation, and mining (but mostly fishing).

The small population living in the Makaham and possibly that of the Ayeyarwady River (formerly Myanmar, now Burma) are also captured live for display purposes.


What's Being Done?


The World Wildife Fund is working hard to help protect these unique dolphins by working with the Cambodian goverment's department of fisheries to help implement the Cambodian Mekong Dolphin Conservation Strategy. WWF also implemented the Malampaya Sound Research and Conservation Project in 2001 to help sustainably manage the fisheries in Malampaya Sound to help manage and protect the dolphin population in that area. In 2004 they helped support a ban on the trading of Irawaddy dolphins for oceanaria by the Convention on International Trade of Wild Fauna and Flora (a.k.a CITES).

How Can I Help?

You can help protect these rare dolphins by supporting efforts to improve fishing gear by only buying seafood that is MSC certified. This can help reduce the incidence of marine by catch (animals getting caught in nets that were not intended to be caught), which kills whales, dolphins, turtles, seabirds, and other marine animals. You can also help by spreading the word! Use the hashtag #ObscureNature to help spread the word so that other people can come and read this blog post. Also, you can find helpful links to other projects concerning the Irawaddy dolphin by heading over to the How Can I Help? section of this blog.