Bhubaneswar, Jan 19: The annual dolphin counting exercise in Chilika Lake will be conducted on Tuesday, with enumeration scheduled from 6 am to 12 noon, forest officials said.

A total of 18 teams will be deployed across two forest ranges in the brackish water lagoon to carry out the exercise. Of these, eight teams will operate from Satapada range, while 10 teams will be deployed in the Balugaon range, officials said. The teams will simultaneously survey designated stretches of the lagoon to record dolphin sightings.

The exercise is part of the state’s ongoing efforts to monitor the population of dolphins and other cetaceans and assess the health of Odisha’s aquatic ecosystem.

State Dolphin Population in 2025
According to the annual population estimation of dolphins and cetaceans for 2024–25, conducted by the State Wildlife Wing last year, Odisha is home to 710 dolphins. The three-day enumeration exercise was carried out from January 27 to 29.

The estimation recorded 188 Irrawadi dolphins, 498 Humpback dolphins, 16 Bottle-nose dolphins and eight Spinner dolphins across the state.

Mangrove (Wildlife) Division, Rajnagar, recorded the highest number with 505 dolphins, including 470 Humpback dolphins, 22 Irrawadi dolphins, five Bottle-nose dolphins and eight Spinner dolphins.

Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon, Chilika, recorded the highest population of Irrawadi dolphins at 159, along with 15 Humpback dolphins. Thirteen Humpback dolphins were spotted in the marine ecosystem of Berhampur division. Seven Bottle-nose dolphins and seven Irrawadi dolphins were counted in Puri (Wildlife) and Balasore (Wildlife) divisions respectively, while Bhadrak Wildlife Division recorded four Bottle-nose dolphins.

Population Trend Remains Stable
The overall dolphin population stood at 743 in 2023–24, 733 in 2022–23 and 726 in 2021–22. Officials said the marginal decline this year was primarily due to fewer sightings of Humpback and Bottle-nose dolphins.

No finless porpoise was sighted during the latest exercise. Forest officials, however, described the dolphin population as stable, noting that numbers have consistently fluctuated between 720 and 750 over the past four years.

They also pointed out that the Irrawadi dolphin population has increased from 181 last year to 188, indicating a healthy marine ecosystem.

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“Our conservation efforts will continue to protect these species and their habitats to ensure their sustained growth,” a senior wildlife official said.