Taiji is short of dolphin meat

Residents of coastal Japanese town Taiji would have you believe they love dolphins. Murals depict cuddly cetaceans on buildings and dolphinariums draw tourists every year.

The blind watchdog

The Gangetic dolphin is an indicator of riverine health. Like the river it's in a bad way A Hindu legend has it that the Gangetic dolphin was once a beautiful princess, called Sukanya. The princess was vain and onced earned the wrath of an ascetic. Sukanya had gone to take a bath in a river when the holy man asked her not to disturb him. The princess continued bathing. The enraged ascetic cursed her to a life in the river. The vain princess was turned into a dolphin, susaka.

More baby dolphins in Chilika

Mechanized boats and gillnets endanger rare species

Science & Technology - Briefs

conservation Fishing casualties

A new river dolphin identified in Bolivia

Researchers have identified a new species of river dolphin in the Bolivian Amazon. Locally known as bufeo, the Bolivian river dolphin (Inia boliviensis) is smaller and lighter in colour than the Amazon pink river dolphin (Inia geoffrensis) found widely in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.

Indus dolphin in Punjab

Another dolphin hunting season

As the annual dolphin-hunting season begins in Japan, it is drawing protests from activists who say the practice is cruel. In the first week of November, Japanese fishers had a clash with protestors from Australia and the us in the port city Taiji.

Japanese council members protest serving of dolphin meat in schools

Two council members from the whaling town of Taiji, Japan, have come out publicly against the feeding of dolphin meat contaminated with mercury to children in school lunch programmes. It is the first time Japanese elected officials have criticised whaling and consumption of cetacean meat, and issued warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost domestic consumption.

In short

>> The Mexican police caught six smugglers with about 57,000 Olive Ridley turtle eggs on August 28 in Oaxaca state. The eggs of this endangered species are part of people's traditional diet and marketed openly despite a ban. >> Tajikistan recently cancelled a Russian contract for the construction of a hydroelectric power station at the Rogun dam built across the country's Vakhsh river. Disagreements about the height of the dam and the materials used for its construction were touted as the impediments.

Dolphin populations increases in Chilika

a recent study reported a fractional increase in the population of Irrawaddy dolphins in Orissa's Chilika lake. The dolphin population in Chilika in Khurda district had gone up from 131 last year to 135 this year, said a February 2007 report by the Chilika Development Authority (cda), a government body. In spite of this, the government as well as environmentalists are worried about frequent reports of dolphin casualties in the lagoon due to the increasing biotic pressure on the lake.