Overview
- The Union Environment Ministry began the range-wide estimation from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh under Project Dolphin.
- Twenty-six researchers set out in three boats to record ecological and habitat parameters using hydrophones for underwater acoustics.
- Phase one covers the Ganga main stem from Bijnor to Ganga Sagar along with the Indus, with phase two planned for the Brahmaputra, Ganga tributaries, the Sundarbans and Odisha.
- For the first time in the national count, teams will estimate Irrawaddy dolphins in the Sundarbans and Odisha alongside Ganges and Indus river dolphins.
- The Wildlife Institute of India is coordinating with state forest departments and partner NGOs, building on the 2021–2023 baseline of 6,327 dolphins concentrated in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.