SUKKUR: A second dead dolphin was found within the last three days in this district apparently due to shallow waters in the Indus River which is forcing the rare species to rush towards offtaking canals to find deep water so as to escape death.

On Friday, a blind Indus dolphin — a species facing extinction — was found dead in the Bago-Jango section of a canal flowing in the Pannu Aqil taluka.

Some villagers spotted the carcass and informed the local irrigation officials, who proceeded to the specified spot, close to the old Rohri SSP office, and took it into their custody. Only on Wednesday, a dolphin was found dead in similar circumstances in another canal flowing through Rohri taluka.

Locals and irrigation officials told the media that flows in Indus between Guddu and Sukkur barrages were stopped on January 1 for 20 days for annual cleaning.

On account of the process, water level in the Indus had come down forcing marine population, including dolphins, to swim away into different canals in search of deep water. They said that it was a general phenomenon during the water closure period.

As a fallout of the water closure, seven canals offtaking from Sukkur Barrage are gradually getting dry to facilitate their cleaning.

The officials say that once dolphins leave the river and swim far away from it in some canal, there is little possibility of their return into the Indus.

However, if information about their presence in a canal is conveyed to the officials concerned timely, they can be rescued. Dolphins can survive in shallow water only for about six-seven hours.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2024