Oil spill may spell disaster for endangered dolphins: experts

Experts have warned that a massive oil spill triggered by Tuesday’s oil tanker capsize in Shela River in Chandpai Range have seriously threaten the Irrawaddy dolphins in the Sundarbans. The mangrove delta is home of this increasingly endangered species that is found in discontinuous subpopulations near sea coasts and in estuaries and rivers in parts of the Bay of Bengal and Southeast Asia. The Chandpai range in east zone in southern Sundarbans is where they are mostly found – which is why the area along with 2 others in the forest was declared as Dolphin Reserve in 2011. But it is near Chandpai that the oil tanker sank in the Shela River on Tuesday, causing an oil spill yet to be fully controlled. It was carrying 350,000 litres of furnace oil. ‘Due to the twice-daily cycle of tide and ebb in the Sundarbans, the oil is spreading out dangerously in all directions from north and south. ‘This is simply disastrous for the Irrawaddy dolphins in the area,’ said Rubaiyat Mansur of Bangladesh Wildlife Conservation Society. The Sundarbans has been home to several species of dolphins -- Indo-Pacific hump-back dolphins, finless dolphins, Indo-Pacific bottle-nose dolphins, Spinner dolphins, Porpoise dolphins, spotted dolphins and Gangetic river dolphins. The Brides variety of whales are also found in the area. Dolphins are close to whales. ‘The Sundarbans are known the world over as the favourite habitat of the Irrawaddy dolphins. ‘The western Sundarbans have the highest concentration of this endangered species and it is precisely there that the oil spill has occurred,’ Rubaiyat added. Bangladesh Forest Department’s Conservator (wildlife) Tapan Kumar Dey agrees. ‘The dolphins flung themselves out of water every 20/25 minutes, With the dense furnace oil, that is as thick as diesel , at the top of the water, the dolphins will have real trouble breathing,’ said Dey. ‘This is a huge disaster for the dolphins,’ according to a news agency.