Improved monitoring gives Ganges river dolphin better survival odds

Using a combined visual-acoustic survey method could be a more effective way of monitoring the endangered Ganges river dolphin scientists have found.

Previously it was believed that visual survey methods - reliant on conservationists spotting and recording surfacing dolphins - were the most cost-effective way of surveying the species. The study revealed that detecting the sound that dolphins emit using a method called a combined visual-acoustic survey, can improve the ability to detect population trends and reduce survey costs.

Scientist Nadia Richman from the zoological Society of London (ZSL) said: “Freshwater cetaceans occupy some of the most densely populated and polluted river systems in the world. We need to make decisions about the best way to manage these species before another becomes extinct. However, these decisions need to be based on evidence which means we need methods that can detect changes in population size in the quickest time possible and for the least cost.”

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