In a heartening turn of events sure to warm the hearts of wildlife enthusiasts, a pod of nearly a dozen dolphins,  with their tender calves in tow, has been rescued and returned to the waters of the Ghaghara river in Uttar Pradesh.  The dolphins were stranded due to low water levels caused by pre-monsoon maintenance work at the Sharda barrage in Lakhimpuri Kheri district in the State.

This uplifting saga of saving the dolphins which were declared national aquatic animals in 2009 unfolded after a relentless 24-hour operation under the scorching sun. Spearheaded by a dedicated team of wildlife officials which involved the South Kheri forest officials, WWF-India, WTI and Turtle Services Alliance (TSA) and State irrigation department, the rescue operation was completed late Saturday evening.

Gangetic dolphins are considered to be reliable indicators of the health of the river ecosystem and have been categorized as schedule 1 aquatic animals in the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2022.

They find place under protected wildlife species. The Ganges river dolphin can only live in freshwater and is essentially blind.

 They hunt by emitting ultrasonic sounds, which bounces off of fish and other prey, enabling them to “see” an image in their mind, according to experts.

Division Forest Officer (DFO), South Kheri Forest Division, Sanjay Biswal, camped at the spot along with WWF project director Dabir Hasan, WII expert Vipul Maurya, WTI expert Shruti Singh and TSA scientist Dr Shailendra Singh till all the dolphins were successfully rescued back to the Ghaghara river, their familiar home.

“On Friday, reports were received that a group of about ten Gangetic dolphins had been sighted stranded in the shallow waters of Sharda canal and they were unable to swim to safety owing to inadequate water level,” Biswal told a news agency.

“Among these, four to five dolphins were stranded in 2.5 to 3 feet deep waters in the canal and their situation was reported critical owing to the presence of their calves with them and heat temperature soaring high,” he added.

Biswal said that under the pre-monsoon maintenance work at the Sharda barrage, the Sharda flow was regulated and the gates were opened due to which Sharda waters flowed away and the Sharda canal originating from it had a dry bed. The irrigation department was requested to release waters into the canal till the dolphins were rescued, he added.

The official said the irrigation department released water into the canal on Saturday evening following which the stranded dolphins were provided passage back to the Ghaghara river. “We ensured that all the dolphins in the canal safely swam back to safety into the Ghaghara river,” he added.

Dr Shailendra Singh from Turtle Services Alliance (TSA), said “the operation team’s primary aim was to facilitate the dolphins swim back to Ghaghara by increasing the water levels which was done within 24 hours which ensured they swim back to their original place.”

India has about 1200-1800 river water dolphins, majorly across the Ganga river in the country.