There are as few as 14 Irrawaddy dolphins in Songkhla Lake. The situation is so critical that the World Bank has turn into concerned.
Global dolphin experts lately met with native agencies at the World Bank office in Bangkok to come up with better methods to ensure the dolphins survive, and even flourish.
The largest-ever convention 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 assets, 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 mentioned the meeting had agreed that Thailand will carry out intensive research with a joint declaration on the protected space, patrols, fishing and consciousness.
Dollar has warned that a new bridge planned across Songkhla Lake will harm the dolphins. He said the number of Irrawaddy dolphins in the lake is likely to drop yearly. With the future of dolphins unsure, he has urged the government to suppose about the bridge’s impact before starting development.
According to Thai PBS World, the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) of the bridge will embody the set up of sediment curtains, a dolphin watch patrol boat, warning alerts, and underwater acoustic recorders.
Thon mentioned the government should seek a grant from the World Bank to guard uncommon 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. Restricted will make a documentary on dolphins in Songkhla Lake and arrange a conservation centre. In terms of quick operations, patrols are urgently wanted.
Kasetsart University hopes to see no a couple of stranded dolphin per year, which will stabilise the inhabitants for 15 years and postpone the danger 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 essentially the most severe risk..