There are as few as 14 Irrawaddy dolphins in Songkhla Lake. The state of affairs is so serious that the World Bank has turn out to be concerned.
Global dolphin consultants lately met with native companies on the World Bank workplace in Bangkok to come up with better methods to verify the dolphins survive, and even flourish.
The largest-ever conference of dolphin consultants included the World Bank, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and teams from India, Cambodia and Laos. Thailand’s departments of marine and coastal sources, fisheries, and rural roads laid out their action plan to safeguard the river dolphins in Songkhla Lake.
Thon Thamrong-Nawasawat, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University is chairman of a marine endangered species working group. He stated the meeting had agreed that Thailand will carry out in depth research with a joint declaration on the protected area, patrols, fishing and consciousness.
Thon has warned that a new bridge deliberate across Songkhla Lake will hurt the dolphins. He mentioned the variety of Irrawaddy dolphins in the lake is likely to drop yearly. With the way ahead for dolphins unsure, he has urged the government to suppose about the bridge’s influence before starting construction.
According to Thai PBS World, the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) of the bridge will include the installation of sediment curtains, a dolphin watch patrol boat, warning alerts, and underwater acoustic recorders.
Thon said the federal government should search a grant from the World Bank to protect rare aquatic animals including the dugong in Trang and Krabi, Irrawaddy dolphins in Songkhla and Phatthalung, and the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin in Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani.
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources will run crowdfunding campaigns, alongside a mass media tour, hiring social media influencers. The department will make a documentary on dolphins in Songkhla Lake and set up a conservation centre. In terms of quick operations, patrols are urgently wanted.
Mere hopes to see no a couple of stranded dolphin per year, which can stabilise the inhabitants for 15 years and postpone the risk of extinction of dolphins in Songkhla Lake by 30 years. The inhabitants has been declining over the previous 30 years, with fatal entanglement in gill nets the most severe risk..