Researchers from the Institute of Tropical Biology found 20 “Irrawaddy” dolphins in the area of Ba Lua Islands in the Kien Giang Biosphere Preservation Region.

The dolphin (also called Orcaella Brevirotis), a river dolphin, was also found in the Malamyapa Channel area and the Mekong River Delta.  

During a survey of biological diversity in the Ba Lua Islands on June, 2010, a delegation of researchers found a skeleton of the dolphin on Hon Da Bac Island.  In September of the same year, they found over 20 dolphins and two skulls of the dolphins.

Dr. Vu Ngoc Long, a member of the team of researchers, said that these dolphins have been living in a habitat different from those living in coastal lakes of Songkhla in Thailand and in the upstream of the Mekong River Delta.

Researchers still don’t know exactly the population in Ba Lua Islands.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the population of the species has increasingly declined due to their polluted habitat and an increasing number of dykes at sea and hydroelectric dams on river.

The Centre for Biological Diversification and Development is now working with national and international organisations to find ways to preserve the species.  

In Vietnam, little is known about the species and even the Red Book of Vietnam did not put it on the endangered list.

Source: VnExpress

Translated by Tran Hoai