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Irrawaddy Dolphin — printable fact sheet
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Irrawaddy Dolphin
Orcaella brevirostris
Orcaella brevirostris is a round-headed, beakless, oddly gentle-looking dolphin of coastal waters and three great rivers - the Mekong, the Irrawaddy and the Mahakam - and it is one of very few wild animals in a genuine, sustained cooperative hunting partnership with humans. Alon…
Did you know?
- Irrawaddy dolphins have a unique partnership with some local fishermen in Myanmar, where the dolphins help herd fish into nets in exchange for a share of the catch.
- The dolphin-and-fisherman partnership on the Irrawaddy is one of only a handful of human-wildlife cooperative hunting systems documented anywhere, alongside honeyguides in Africa and dolphins at Laguna in Brazil. Irrawaddy dolphins have flexible necks - unlike most dolphins, some of their neck vertebrae are unfused, which is why they can turn their heads. They have no beak at all, and the melon bulges over a short face, giving them a permanently placid expression that has made them a conservation mascot in Cambodia.
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