A dolphin spotted in Ganga river in Meerut, claims an IFS officer
Coronavirus lockdown may have impacted the economy, businesses across the nations but there is no doubt that the lockdown has also helped the nature to heal. With people barely coming out of their homes, business and industrial activities at bare-minimum, the earth has finally got the chance to heal itself.
One of the positive outcomes of the lockdown has been a drastic improvement in pollution levels in all aspects including air, water and noise, as a result of which people are witnessing species whose sightings have disappeared years ago but due to the lockdown that has helped in dropping down of pollution levels, those species are being witnessed again.
One such occurrence has been noticed and reported by Akash Deep Badhawan, an IFS officer who on his Twitter handle tweeted a video showing dolphin in Ganga river somewhere near Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
In his tweet, Akash Deep Badhawan wrote, "DYK? Ganges River Dolphin, our National Aquatic Animal once lived in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system is now endangered. They live in fresh water and are practically blind, with small slits as eyes. Was fortunate to spot these in Ganges in Meerut."
"Officially discovered in 1801, these creatures are practically blind, with small slits for eyes. They hunt using ultrasonic sounds to track other fishes in the vicinity. Usually solo, sometimes they are found in small groups, especially Mother and calf," the IFS officer added.
"Their habitat is largely tracts of Ganges where fish is aplenty and water currents are slow. Here dense human population has lead to fishermen catching them along with fish and become “bycatch”. However, they are still hunted at times for their meat and oil by few," Badhawan added.
The video is being widely shared across different platforms. Take a look at how people reacted on Twitter.
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