Now two dolphin carcasses found in Turag River

Two dead dolphins were recovered from the Turag River in Ashulia Bazar area of Savar within the span of 12 hours.

After the local fisherman fished out a dead dolphin weighing around 120kg on Sunday afternoon, locals spotted another floating near Felaghat area on Monday.

This dolphin weighed around 200kg, said Kamrul Islam Sarkar, a senior fisheries officer in Savar.

The dolphin recovered on Sunday was a Ganges Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) according to a researcher from Jahangirnagar University (JU).

“These dolphins had a sanctuary in the Padma and the Jamuna rivers. But they could not be seen in the last 10-15 years in this region” Kamrul Islam added.

He further said that they were trying to identify the species of the dolphin found on Monday. “Experts are also trying to determine the cause of their deaths.”

Dead dolphins are found regularly in the Halda River in Chittagong, in the Sundarbans and the coastal districts. Most of them died being entangled in fishing nets.

The government incorporated a punishment of maximum of five-year jail or highest Tk 5 lakh fine for repeated killings of dolphins in the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act.

On October 19, the government approved the "Dolphin Conservation Action Plan” to protect the habitat of dolphins in Bangladesh.