Video: A Pair of Endangered River Dolphins Spotted; River Ganges Breathes!

Although this lockdown period is extremely difficult for man-kind, especially for those below the poverty line across the world, it has brought in various benefits for the environment. As humans continue to practice social distancing to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus, pollution levels have decreased drastically, paving way for the earth to breathe.

Previously, India recorded the revival of the river Ganga, as the mighty river ran cleaner than ever before. Adding to this, Mumbai’s ponds recently saw a flock of Pink Flamingos and the Ozone layer has been healing. Interestingly, a pair of endangered Ganges River Dolphins are being spotted at Meerut, in a recent video shared by Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Akash Deep Badhawan. Visuals show the pair enjoying a good swim.

His tweet read, "Ganges River Dolphin, our national aquatic animals once lived in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system is now endangered. They live in freshwater and are practically blind, with small slits as eyes. Was fortunate to spot these in the Ganges in Meerut.” Badhawan wrote in another tweet that the dolphins generally rely on ultrasonic sounds to track other fish while hunting and are usually found solo. "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!"