The Quest Begins
It was the winter of 2026, and I was in Assam with a group of wildlife enthusiasts for an expedition to Kaziranga Tiger Reserve. Our primary motto was to see Indian one-horned rhinos in their natural habitat, and also, if possible, all the big five of Kaziranga.
Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, though famous for its wild population of Indian one-horned rhinoceros, is also known as the only reserve in India with the big five. These big five, apart from rhinos, are Asian elephants, wild water buffalo, tigers and eastern swamp deer. Fortunately, except for tigers, we saw everything, because Kaziranga is the best place to see them. For tigers, Kaziranga has a very good population and a good density as well, but the high grasses and dense forests keep them hiding well. But we were not disappointed because our major aim was to see rhinos, which we had plenty of. From the day we reached Kaziranga to the end of the trip, we spotted more than one rhino every day, so it was a successful trip.
But wait, this trip added one more animal to our list, which is more endangered than a tiger, more elusive than a leopard and more unpredictable than a bear. A different habitat and different mode of safari, but the target is a mammal. Yes, your guess is right; we added a Gangetic river dolphin safari in the Brahmaputra River in this trip, and this river dolphin safari is something for which I was waiting for long. So before sharing the experience of spotting a dolphin, I would like to share some information about them.
Why Gangetic River Dolphin?
You might ask a question, that seeing a dolphin in an ocean is easier than seeing them in murky water of a river, so why did I want to see a river dolphin, rather than a marine one? Another question that can come to your mind is, why do Gangetic River dolphin in Brahmaputra River not in river Ganges.
So, I will give you the answer to these questions one by one. The first thing is river dolphins are a unique creature which survives all the odds in the river ecosystem and is doing well. They are blind because they don’t need eyesight, murky water of river is the reason. Instead, they use biological sonar system called echolocation to locate their pray and navigate through the muddy waters of south Asian rivers. They are rare to see in their natural habitat and distribution range, thanks to the increasing river pollution. They are the top predator of Ganges river system like tigers are for the forests. This uniqueness and their role in maintaining the river ecosystem forced me to see them in their natural habitat.
Though Gangetic River dolphins are found in the River Ganges and its tributaries but a good population are found in mighty Brahmaputra River and another reason to find them in Brahmaputra is because the dolphin safari is very well organized here and you can club it with Kaziranga in your itinerary of northeast India, it is a daytrip from Kaziranga.
Into the Mighty Brahmaputra
Our day started with a quick and early breakfast at the hotel and then a jeep safari to the tiger reserve. Post jeep safari we had lunch and then drove to Silghat, which is a one-hour drive from the lodge. At Silghat we boarded a country-made boat on which we spent two hours in search of a dolphin. We were served evening tea and snacks on the boat.
The Search Begins
The Brahmaputra River is one of the biggest rivers in South Asia, originating in the Himalayas in China and then travelling all the way to India, specifically from Arunachal Pradesh. While in Arunachal, one can see the rapids of the river, but in Assam, its vastness becomes apparent. The river seems calm at the surface, but locals have told us that the undercurrent is powerful, which is the reason why you don’t see people swimming in the River Brahmaputra. Our boatman took us to the middle of the river and instructed, ‘Keep your eyes everywhere; you might see a dolphin coming up for air, but it will only be for a second.’ We tried diligently and got few glimpses of dolphins, but you can’t predict where they will emerge, so you have to keep your eye almost everywhere and stay alert. I also kept my phone camera ready in wide-angle mode so that I could click a picture or take a video if it appeared within the range of the camera. I took some videos, but they were far away and not captured in time. I kept the recording of my camera on even when I was talking to my fellow travellers.
The First Sighting
Our day started with a quick and early breakfast at the hotel and then a jeep safari to the tiger reserve. Post jeep safari we had lunch and then drove to Silghat, which is a one-hour drive from the lodge. At Silghat we boarded a country-made boat on which we spent two hours in search of a dolphin. We were served evening tea and snacks on the boat.
The Search Begins
Though we sighted several instances when dolphins emerged from the murky water of the River Brahmaputra, I remember a sighting in which a dolphin appeared very close to our boat, and I could see it only for half a second, but I remember its shiny body and the quick, graceful arch it made as it slipped back beneath the surface. Thereafter, I had several sightings of dolphins, but none were as close as that one. I tried to take a video, but I was only able to capture one in which the dolphin was quite far away.
A Dolphin That Lives in Darkness
Gangetic river dolphins live in the murky water of the Ganges and Brahmaputra river systems, and that is the reason they are blind, because they don’t need eyes. The ability to see had disappeared during the process of evolution. Gangetic river dolphins are the only cetaceans that lack a crystalline eye lens, which contributes to their blindness. They use a biological SONAR system, which is called echolocation, to locate their prey and navigate through the water of the river.
Status and Population
The Gangetic River dolphin, or the South Asian River dolphin (Platanista gangetica), is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of threatened species. They are found in India, Nepal and Bangladesh and distributed in the river system of the Indus, Ganges, Meghna, Brahmaputra and Karnaphuli of the Asian subcontinent.
In India they are listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, which gives them the highest protection, equal to the tiger, rhinos and other endangered species.
Recently a population estimation survey of the species has been conducted in India. The team surveyed an 8507 km stretch of 28 rivers. The total number calculated is around 6327 individuals, which included 3 Indus River dolphins in the Indus River, which is a subspecies. The highest number of dolphins is recorded in the River Ganges and its tributaries.
The dolphin survey was not easy because they only appeared on the surface for 1.26 seconds and dived for 107 seconds. There were observer errors and availability errors. To account for observer errors, two independent observer teams are used, and to address the availability error, a hydrophone is dragged underwater to record the presence of dolphins by capturing their clicks.
Threats to the Dolphin
The major threat to the river dolphins is damming of the rivers for irrigation, flood control and electricity generation. Damming isolates the population, obstructs seasonal movement and brings down dry season flows during the course of the river. Other threats include entanglement in fishing gear, river pollution, motorboats and hunting.
The Surprise of the Expedition
Though our expedition to see river dolphins was successful with many sightings, the only downside which makes me sad was that I could not take a proper video. But after the end of the trip, when I started selecting photos and videos, I came across a video in which I accidentally recorded a dolphin surfacing. It was close and significantly superior to the other videos, so I was genuinely pleased to have captured what I desired, and I can now confidently delete the other videos, so I was really happy to obtain what I wanted, and now I can say my dolphin safari was a success.
