6,000 rare, large river dolphins found in Bangladesh.Byline: ANI Washington, April 1 (ANI): Conservationists have reported a previously unknown population of Irrawaddy dolphins in Bangladesh, which would give scientists "great hope" for the survival of the rare species. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a report in National Geographic News, a research team estimated that 6,000 Irrawaddy dolphins thrive in the country's Sundarbans mangrove mangrove, large tropical evergreen tree, genus Rhizophora, that grows on muddy tidal flats and along protected ocean shorelines. Mangroves are most abundant in tropical Asia, Africa, and the islands of the SW Pacific. forests and nearby waters of the Bay of Bengal Noun 1. Bay of Bengal - an arm of the Indian Ocean to the east of India Andaman Sea - part of the Bay of Bengal to the west of the Malay Peninsula Indian Ocean - the 3rd largest ocean; bounded by Africa on the west, Asia on the north, Australia on the east . The group is the largest ever found. Previously, scattered groups of only about a hundred Irrawaddy dolphins each had been found throughout the dolphin's Southeast Asian habitat, which stretches from the mouths of rivers feeding the Bay of Bengal across open waters to Indonesia. The species' total worldwide population is unknown. "That's why this is so exciting," said Howard Rosenbaum, head of the ocean giants research program at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS See Windows CardSpace. ), the conservation group that made the discovery. "Here you have this area where we found nearly 6,000 animals-it gives us hope for protecting the entire species and this really important habitat," he added. Few marine-mammal biologists had previously explored the diverse water ecosystem where the new dolphin group was found, which ranges from freshwater mangroves to brackish brack·ish adj. 1. Having a somewhat salty taste, especially from containing a mixture of seawater and fresh water: "You could cut the brackish winds with a knife/Here in Nantucket" water to deep ocean canyons in just a small area. Because the 6.5- to 8-foot-long (2- to 2.5-meter-long) mammals surface only occasionally, researchers used a transect tran·sect tr.v. tran·sect·ed, tran·sect·ing, tran·sects To divide by cutting transversely. [trans- + -sect. method to gather data about the population. The team steered a boat along a straight line, noting any dolphin sightings along each run. A wider population estimate was then made from that data. According to Rosenbaum, six thousand is a "tremendous amount" of individuals for the species-listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List. "But, it doesn't mean we're out of the woods yet," he said. "To know that there's a very large population elsewhere is quite a relief," said Dekila Chungyalpa, director of the Mekong River Mekong River Chinese Lancang Jiang or Lan-Ts'ang Chiang Longest river of Southeast Asia. Rising in southern Qinghai province, China, it flows south through eastern Tibet and across the highlands of Yunnan province. program for WWF-US. But, she added, "just because we're finding these wonderful numbers doesn't mean the urgency is any less strong." (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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