In the Sundarbans!

Mongla, Bangladesh (JLewis, TDRF)

The hotel is a short walking distance from the docks and I meet my volunteer guide from the BCDP in the lobby, Manish Datta. Manish is a graduate student at Khulna University (where I will be travelling in two days to film others working in the local BCDP offices).  His research focus is on the by-catch of dolphins in fishing gear. By-catch, particularly in gill nets, is a big problem for this species, and many other aquatic species in rivers and in the oceans.

Manish helps search for dolphins in the Sundarbans, 

Bangladesh (JLewis, TDRF)

We have hired a boat captain and are heading out to search for dolphins to film. This turns out to be a pretty easy feat. This species in particular prefers deeper, slower moving waters, which tend to be found at confluences (where river tributaries meet). Very near this port are two confluences. And we locate river dolphins foraging at both locations. The bad news was….this was simply…..hands down….the absolute hardest dolphin I have ever attempted to film. I have spent most of my career doing this (capturing photos of dolphins as they surface) on multiple species. The Ganges river dolphin 1) do not travel in groups (groups make it easier to anticipate where others will surface), and 2) surfaces ridiculously fast. So fast, you barely have time to focus your eyes much less your camera. The good news is that for the dolphins we located, they seemed to like the locations they were in and stayed for hours. This allowed us to anchor and let me work as hard as I could to capture them. It took a LOT of patience, but we were successful.

Ganges river dolphin, Sundarbans, Bangladesh (JLewis, TDRF)