The Maharashtra government is all set to embark on an 18-month-long study to assess the distribution, population size, and habitat quality of coastal cetaceans, primarily the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin and Indo-Pacific finless porpoise, as well as possibly document other cetacean species found within 10 kilometres of Mumbai’s shore.
This is the first time an official assessment of this magnitude will occur in Maharashtra along the coastal waters of the Mumbai-MMR covering an approximate length (north-south) of 70 km.
"It's an 18-month-study," said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, who heads the Mangrove Cell.
The study area will cover the western seaboard starting at the mouth of the Vaitarna river in the north to the Thane creek in the south as well as the southern tip of Greater Mumbai. The area will also include multiple bays such as Back Bay, Haji Ali and Mahim Bay as well as five river mouths in MMR including Mithi, Dahisar, Poisar, Oshiwara and Vaitarna, which represents the habitat preferred by the two focal species -- dolphins and porpoises.
The Maharashtra Mangrove Cell and Mangrove Foundation have commissioned a number of projects regarding the scientific study of near-shore cetaceans (dolphins and porpoises) in some coastal regions of Maharashtra. In June this year, preliminary research carried out by the CCF, determined the population and habitat usage of Indian Ocean humpback dolphins in the Backbay region of south Mumbai with 27 confirmed sightings (of dolphins) of which the largest group comprised six individuals.