Credit:
reuters/dipani sutaria/handout
http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/05/24/us-dolphins-accents-idUSL2457438420070524
Hi
my name is Jessica and I am a strong believer in the protection of
wildlife and conservation of the wild world that surrounds us.
Yesterday I came across a post on Facebook from the World
Wildlife Fund (WWF or World Wide Fund For Nature), a well known
conservation organization. The WWF helps protect all animals
worldwide and tries to keep them from the dangers of extinction,
poaching and habitat loss as well as many other threats. Since it is
their goal to protect all animals they do all they can to bring
attention to wildlife in need, unfortunately they can't reach the
ears of everyone. Luckily I came across the post they made and I
would like to help spread this information. WWF has stated that there
is a Dam being built in the Siphandone area of Southern Laos in the
Mekong River, unfortunately this is also the habitat of the Irrawaddy
dolphin. The building of this dam could result in the extinction of
these Critically endangered animals (highest endangerment rate
possible). How you ask, well in order to clear the rocks and debris
from the area where the dam will be built they will have to have
numerous explosions, this will send dangerously loud sound waves
through the water. The effect of this could potentially kill these
dolphins who are equipped with highly sensitive hearing and if the
blast doesn’t kill them there will be increased boat traffic,
changes in water quality, habitat destruction and loss in food. An
estimated 91 Irrawaddy dolphins are left in the world and
approximately 85+ of them live in the Mekong river. However the
creation of this dam will not only affect the dolphins that inhabit
but the locals that live there as well. A lot of the locals
livelihood depend on fishing in the Mekong. The blasts and the
development of the dam on a whole will have consequences on the
migration patterns of the fish that breed and live in this river, as
it will block the channel leading into and out of the Mekong. This
means that there will be a minimal amount of fish migrating to said
area affecting the fisheries that reside in Southern Laos. The
results will be less fish to catch leading to less fish being sold
and there will be less fish for the people and dolphins to eat. The
loss of the dolphin will be devastating to the locals as well because
they are very helpful in that the fisherman often coax the dolphin to
herding fish into their waiting nets(The dolphins do this by spitting
water at whatever is needed to be herded). The dolphin also benefits
because it can easily catch all the fish that are left behind as they
end up dazed and confused by the sudden loss of everything around
them. The extinction of the dolphins will also affect the economy of
Southern Laos as the Irrawaddy dolphins are a huge tourist attraction
and the disappearance of the dolphin will cause a great decrease in
the amount of tourists visiting meaning less people are going to
spend their money. As you can see the building of this dam will
affect both animals and people alike. WWF has a petition that they
have set up to try and stop the building of this dam and it is now
crunch time to get enough signatures as the construction of the dam
is scheduled for later this year. Please take a minute to provide
your signature as it would be a great shame to lose these amazing
creatures. If you have any questions on the dolphins you can email
the WWF by going to this link
(http://worldwildlife.custhelp.com/app/ask)
you can also see the post on my blog where I will have all about the
dolphin with information and facts
(http://jessiegirl-wildaboutanimals.blogspot.ca/2014/07/irawaddy-dolphin.html)
(Please leave a comment below if you signed so I can thank you)
(Please leave a comment below if you signed so I can thank you)
The
Petition:
More
Information on the dam and the
dolphin: http://d2ouvy59p0dg6k.cloudfront.net/downloads/dolphin_report_eng.pdf
More
information on the affects on fish migration:
I've signed the petition, thank you so much for sharing this!!
ReplyDeleteThankyou so much for signing every signature helps 😄
DeleteSigned
ReplyDeleteI Have Signed, Thank you for bringing this to my attention Jess :)
ReplyDelete-Meaghan