Two blind dolphins rescued, another 25 feared stranded

SUKKUR: Two stranded blind Indus dolphins, locally known as Bhulan, were rescued from Rohri Canal and released into the Indus River, ARY News reported on Sunday.

According to details, the Sindh Wildlife team – led by Deputy Conservator Officer Sukkur Muhammad Adnan Hamid – rescued Blind Dolphins from Dadu, Rohri canals and released them into the Indus.

Over 27 Indus blind dolphins are stranded at 10 different water canals. According to the rescue plan, over 30 persons will take part in a month-long rescue operation.

انڈس ڈالفن ریسکیو یونٹ سکھر نے دادو کینال، لیفٹ بینک سکھر بیراج مرزا پور سیکشن سے دو انڈس ڈالفنز جو دادو کینال میں پانی بند ہونےکی وجہ سے موت کے شکنجے میں جکڑی کیفیت سے دوچار تھیں ریسکیو کیا۔ دوران ریسکیو ایک ڈالفن نے شدید اسٹریس کی کیفیات دکھائیں، جبکہ دوسری نے نارمل کیفیت
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— SindhWildlife (@sindhwildlife) January 8, 2022

The Wildlife Department had also set up a Dolphin Rescue Control Room (DRCR) at the Sukkur Barrage to coordinate rescue of an estimated 27 Dolphins stranded in the regional canals since almost a fortnight.

The department had also canceled the leave of all its employees in order to smoothly carry out the rescue effort.

Indus dolphins often get stranded in canals due to the one-way flow of water restricting their entry back into the main River Indus. If not rescued, the mortality of the animal becomes inevitable.

The River Indus dolphin has been marked as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

These mammals have to adapt to life in the muddy river water, and are believed since then to be functionally blind. Without eyes, the rare specie of blind dolphins rely on echolocation to communicate, navigate, and hunt prey including catfish, prawns, and carp.