Habitat and Ecology
Habitat and Ecology
Systems
Irrawaddy dolphins prefer coastal areas associated with the muddy, brackish waters at river mouths, ranging offshore as far as the extent of the freshwater plume – often only a few km but more than 60 km at the Meghna River mouth in Bangladesh (Smith et al. 2005). In rivers and mangrove channels, the species is most often observed at channel confluences and divergences and downstream of sharp meanders. They have been seen in the same area as finless porpoises in coastal waters of Bangladesh and Myanmar (Smith et al. 2005), and Ganges River dolphins in the waterways of the Sundarbans mangrove forest (Smith et al. 2006).
Systems
- Freshwater
- Marine
