The news that three Indus Blind Dolphins were found dead in the River Indus earlier this year is very sad indeed as this highly endangered cetacean species ‘Platanista minor’ or ‘bhulan’ in Urdu, is found nowhere else in the whole wide world other than right here in Pakistan.

These fresh water dolphins used to inhabit the River Indus right from its estuary all the way up to Attock on the border with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, plus in the rivers tributaries such as the River Ravi. These species were reasonably numerous but the construction of the Indus irrigation system — this began over a hundred years ago when barrages, including the famous Sukkur Barrage, were constructed — limited their movements tremendously. As a direct result of this, along with chemical pollution of the river by industrial and agricultural concerns, their numbers rapidly declined.

After last year’s devastating floods, it is not known for certain exactly how many of these very special dolphins are left. But at last count it was estimated that there were less than 900 of them trapped in the relatively short stretch of the River Indus between Guddu and Kotri Barrages where fishermen are thought to use poisonous chemicals to kill edible fish quickly instead of spending time catching them in the usual manner. It is possible that the three found dead had been poisoned and this is being investigated by wildlife officials.

The Indus Blind Dolphin is basically typical of its kind but differs in that it has broad, shovel-shaped flippers and a long, slender beak. Pinkish-grey in colour, this kind of dolphin is usually between 1.23m to 1.37m long and weighs up to 21kg. It likes to swim on its side coming up for air every one and a half to two minutes unless it is feeding when it may remain submerged for up to eight long minutes.

It is thought, although not confirmed, that these dolphins can live up to 20 years and efforts are being made for its conservation. The reason for it being called the Indus Blind Dolphin is because its eyes do not have the necessary lenses to function so do not work properly even though there is an optic nerve. In order to get around safely and also to communicate with other dolphins in the vicinity, the dolphin depend totally on sonar or echo-location abilities by which it maintains a running commentary with its surroundings and other dolphins, emitting continuous pulses of sound.

Other species of River Dolphins exist in the Yangtze River in China, the Ganges in India, the Brahmaputra in Bangladesh, the Meghna in Nepal and the Amazon and Orinoco in South America but all of these are different from our very own, very special Indus Blind Dolphin.