One tenth of the total population of Mekong Irrawaddy dolphins were found dead in Cambodia in the first three months of 2004. The 190 km stretch of Mekong River that runs from Kratie in north eastern Cambodia to the border with Laos is home to between 80-100 Irrawaddy dolphins. Nine dolphins have died so far and the suspected reasons behind the deaths are worrying conservationists and those who rely upon the river for their livelihood.

"Despite the low population this is one of the only places in the world where you can see river dolphins so easily," says Kratie based dolphin researcher Isabel Beasley. The Irrawaddy dolphin inhabits shallow, tropical, and sub tropical rivers from the Bay of Bengal east to the southern Philippines and south to northern Australia. Some individuals have been found up to 1300 km inland. It has long flippers, a blue-grey body, triangular rounded dorsal fin and can grow up to 8 feet long. It has no beak and its shape is very similar to the Beluga (toothed) whale. In the dry season water levels in the Mekong River decrease and the dolphins reside in a series of nine deep water pools each about a kilometre square.

Beasley, who is researching a PhD on the Mekong River dolphin population while co-ordinating the Mekong Dolphin Conservation Project (MDCP), spends two weeks per month on the river looking at abundance, distribution and movement of dolphins. She believes the primary threat to the populations’ survival to date has been gill-net fishing. "This year the water levels are very low, the lowest for sixty years. It’s very easy for the dolphins to get caught in the gill-nets. That seems to be the reason we have more than normal getting entangled this year."

Large gill-nets have 12-30 cm diameter holes designed to catch catfish and other large fish, but dolphins occasionally get entangled. Irrawaddy dolphins surface for air every thirty seconds to a minute, although they can remain below the surface for a maximum of twelve minutes. Once a dolphin is entangled it is almost certain that it will drown within a few minutes. Due to the very low water levels this year local fishing grounds have reduced. Subsequently, illegal fishing in the ten metre deep pools has increased. Bomb fishing, where dynamite is thrown into pools killing a large amount of fish instantly, and electric fishing, where a car battery is wired up to five metre long iron rods creating a current that can kill a buffalo, a person or a dolphin, are also significant concerns.

"Illegal nightime fishing is a very big problem," says Sam Kin Lorn, Chief of Fisheries for Kratie province. "If the fishermen are caught, we keep their equipment and they get sent to court. We want to conserve these dolphins, we have a plan, but we don’t have the money. What we need is a sponsor." Less than ten illegal fishermen were caught in 2003 and there could be a reason for that. Local police and military personnel are among those suspected of illegal fishing activities. In June night patrols at two pools; Kampi and Chroy Banteay, together with a project to diversify livelihoods through dolphin-watching ecotourism, will commence with funding from the British Embassy in Phnom Penh. In February 2004 the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) identified river dolphins as a priority of one of its ‘Species Target Driven Programmes’. Subsequent activities by WWF may help contribute significantly towards the potential survival of the Mekong Irrawaddy dolphin population.

Evidence suggests gold mining operations in the area have seriously contaminated the water with mercury and cyanide. Six of the recent dolphin deaths were new born calves. High new born dolphin mortality is very unusual. "Contaminants are probably responsible for causing defects in at least three of the new borns," explains Beasley. "I was really worried the new born deaths meant there was an inbreeding problem as that really would be the end of the population. But, three of the baby dolphins exhibited a congenital defect called ‘gastroschisis’, where the intestines protrude from near the umbilicous. This defect is apparently caused by contaminants and not inbreeding depression."

This is the first time this congenital defect has been recorded in cetaceans. There are three legal gold mining operations and ten or eleven illegal operations in the area. Without prompt action from the government it is unlikely the poisoning of the Mekong will stop anytime soon meaning further deaths are likely. But it is not only the dolphins that are dying from pollution.

"Dolphins are at the top of the food chain. If they’re exhibiting problems, potentially through contaminants, then it is obviously affecting local people that are eating the fish," says Beasley. "Fish are probably the only source of protein for a lot of people along the river. So, it’s very serious."

Two months before the dolphin deaths were discovered, a group of villagers from the Kratie area contacted local NGOs to ask if they could help explain why their cattle were dying. A young boy drank some river water and he also died. The dolphins that were not killed by gill-nets were all found near gold mining operations. "It’s so ironic that it takes nine dolphin deaths to get the government to do something about it," says Beasley. But, what is the government doing?

A national election was held in July 2003 and almost one year later a government has yet to form. As a result, all pending legislation has been suspended. Slated for Cambodia’s statute books is a Royal Decree protecting the dolphins which could help spur government action and draw in donors. "The decree would help focus attention locally and internationally, but it has little legal strength and won’t change existing legislation," says Joe Walston, Director of Wildlife Conservation Society (Cambodia). "What’s needed is a more public statement from high government to make an impact."

Tourism also brings its share of problems. Kampi pool, is 15 km north of Kratie town and attracts between 400-500 tourists a week in season and up to 200 at weekends. It’s the only pool in Cambodia that is accessible to tourists. The growing popularity of the overland border crossing between Laos and Cambodia has increased the number of tourists passing through Kratie to and from Laos. As recently as 2002 dolphins could be seen with ease from the pier of Kampi pool, but as I travel towards the pool on an early evening survey with Beasley she explains why they no longer come close to the pier. "The tourist boat engines disturb the dolphins and the latest craze some foreign tourists have is to try to ‘swim’ with the dolphins. This is particularly stupid as not only does it disturb the dolphins, but the Mekong is home to several nasty diseases you really wouldn’t want to catch." On our visit we watch eight dolphins repeatedly breach the surface for a few seconds before descending back into the murky depths. Sightings of fourteen or more are common. However, river dolphins are shy and far less acrobatic than their seafaring cousins. "A lot of tourists say, ‘Don’t they behave like other dolphins?’ I think some of them go away a bit disappointed," suggests Beasley. "They need to know beforehand that river dolphins are quite different from the dolphins they see on television."

It’s not only the odd tourist who is disappointed with the dolphins. The communities that live around the pools are too. They can no longer fish and haven’t seen any benefits or compensation from dolphin tourism and conservation activities. "It’s a conservation area and the people have lost their livelihood because of conservation. They can’t feed their families, they don’t have enough money to buy anything. At the same time they’re not seeing any benefits," says Beasley. Half of the money from dolphin viewing boat trips goes to the boat owners. The major problem is the other half disappears into the ether after it reaches Kratie Department of Tourism. The money is not ploughed back into dolphin conservation or used to invest in alternative income streams for the local community.

There are seven boats that are used for dolphin watching and there are 124 families in the village. Only seven families benefit from tourism and two from selling drinks and snacks. The others get nothing. "I wouldn’t be surprised if some villagers think it would be better if the dolphins did die so they could go fishing again," adds Beasley.

However, activities are now being conducted to try and mitigate these problems. "The British Embassy have really been great in their support for conservation activities and attempts to develop community benefit at Kampi village," Beasley explains. "If successful this project could be a model that could be replicated at other important dolphin areas." In addition, the Cambodian Rural Development Team, an NGO promoting sustainable development using renewable resources and appropriate agricultural technologies, plans to link up with MDCP later this year to help improve living conditions and food security for the villagers living in the conservation areas. Foreign aid is welcome, but what is needed in the long term is pressure from central government to help redirect Kratie’s disappearing tourist dollars away from the pockets of local officials and into projects that benefit the local community.

Conservationists and villagers alike are left to wait until the government acts against illegal fishing and the causes of pollution As Beasley says, time is running out. "The people here see the dolphins numbers declining and they see a subsequent decline in fish stocks. They know if something isn’t done soon, they will lose their fisheries and the dolphins."

©2004 Graham Holliday

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