Humpback Dolphins make rare appearance near Bandra-Worli sea link
A close-up of the dolphins spotted near the Bandra-Worli sea link in December last year (Picture Courtesy: Yogesh Naik)
Humpback Dolphins made a rare appearance off the coast near Bandra-Worli sea link in Mumbai on Sunday.
In Maharashtra, dolphins are typically found along the coast of Konkan regions like Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg. However, there have been multiple sightings of the aquatic mammals off the Mumbai coast in recent times.
Just last week, a pod of Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins was spotted near Sasson docks. Prior to that, another pod was spotted near the sea link in December.
Before that, the creatures were seen a few times at the shallow waters near Madh Jetty, Marine Lines, and Haji Ali last year.
“The dolphin sightings are not abnormal. They can be seen in coastal and clean water. However, dolphins are hardly spotted near Mumbai coast as there is silt in the water,” Vinay Deshmukh, a retired scientist from Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, told The Indian Express.
“During winters, the wind is from land to sea (northerly winds), which carry silt away from the shore and that is possibly the reason that the dolphins were spotted near the shore,” he added.
Dolphins are endangered cetacean species and are protected under the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
In July last year, a carcass of a Humpback Dolphin washed ashore at Girgaum Chowpatty. Two days later, another decomposed carcass was discovered at Juhu Silver beach.
Dolphins Off Mumbai!
Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins near Bandra-Worli sea link on Sunday. The endangered dolphins has been increasingly spotted near the Mumbai Coast. Express photo by Prashant Nadkar @IndianExpress @ExpressImages #humpbackdolphins #dolphins #expressexclusive pic.twitter.com/150Ibcpd0n— Neeraj Priyadarshi (@neerajexpress) January 21, 2019
