Whale Watching Worldwide

Ganges River dolphin and Irrawaddy dolphin habitats. This opportunistic dolphin watching has not been
quantified, but could be substantial, and could develop into more dedicated trips in the future.
Several areas offer river dolphin watching in the Ganges, such as Patna, the capital city of Bihar state, and an
area on the Chambal River near Agra. Trips can be organised casually with local fishermen or other nature
tour agencies. Most of these trips offer only opportunistic dolphin watching opportunities.
Future researchers and dolphin watchers should note that there are dolphin populations in the Brahmaputra
River, in Assam. There are plans to launch dolphin watching as a conservation initiative beginning in 2009.
Main species: Small cetaceans:
Ganges River dolphin, Indo‐Pacific humpback
dolphin, Irrawaddy dolphin
Tourists:
International 20%
Domestic 80%
Types of tours: Boat‐based, casually organised with local boat
owners, though larger operators do exist.
Average adult ticket price: $8
Estimated employment
1000
numbers:
Main whale watch season: October to April
Acknowledgements:
Thanks to Dipani Sutaria at James Cook University, Vivek Menon, Dhiresh Joshi and Radhika Bhagat at Wildlife Trust of
India, Moideen Wafar of the National Institute of Oceanography, Anna Forslund and Sandeep Behera at WWF, R.K
Sinha at Dolphin Conservation Project, University of Patna, Coralie D’Lima of Nature Conservation Foundation, Nicola
Hodgins at the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Vardhan Patankar at Reefwatch and Pamela Mascarenhas at
Goa Tourism. Several operators also provided helpful information.
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