The Unusual Adventure
How we rescued the Dolphin
Life is full of surprises, some sweet and some bitter. But there is always one such surprise, which forces you to smile in your darkest hours.
If one travels 300 miles north of Karachi, which takes almost 7 hours give and take, one would come upon the confluence of two ancient cities with the mighty Indus River as a natural boundary between them. Just like the Hudson, which separates New York and New Jersey.
Sukkur and Rohri as old as dinosaurs and as hot as Sun.
I was 7 years old when we moved to Sukkur and I would not exaggerate if i say that I had my best time in that city. Our next door neighbors “The Bhagats” were also the owner of the house we had rented. Our families soon bonded and were inseparable. We used to play together, went out together and used to spend hours in each other’s houses for chit chat and fun.
Uncle Bhagat was a very sweet man, he loved us like his own children and would always encourage to have more fun.
One day uncle Bhagat called me and “Gudda” (his son and my friend) and told us to get ready for some adventure. We were excited, because he used to work in WWF and was deputy conservative of the Sukkur Region, and we always had so much fun visiting his office as it was often filled with some exotic rescued animals.
Riding his Toyota pickup truck was an added bonus for us children, as we used to ride on the truck bed and would watch and wave all the bystanders. It was crazy.
His office was in the suburbs of Sukkur and it took us almost an hour to reach there. We thought, that’s it, we would play some cricket in the sprawling gardens and would have some high tea but we were surprised to see 4–5 pick up trucks lined with a lot of people and equipment.
“We are not staying boys, we are moving, so come inside, it’s a bumpy road ahead” said Uncle Bhagat.
I was confused and curious and asked “Where are we going and why we are going uncle?”
He looked back and smiled:
“You boys are going to be the part of a unique undertaking. We are going to rescue an Indus river blind dolphin”
“Indus river dolphins are believed to have originated in the ancient Tethys Sea. When the sea dried up approximately 50 million years ago, the dolphins were forced to its only remaining habitat — rivers. Today, they can only be found in the lower parts of the Indus river in Pakistan and in river Beas, a tributary of the Indus river in Punjab, India. In Pakistan, their numbers declined dramatically after the construction of an irrigation system, and most dolphins are confined to a 750 mile stretch of the river and divided into isolated populations by six barrages. They have adapted to life in the muddy river and are functionally blind. They rely on echo location to navigate, communicate and hunt prey including prawns, catfish and carp” Source: www.worldwildlife.org
“What do you mean by rescue uncle?”
He smiled and said:
“These dolphins which you people see during your boat rides of Indus River, often travels to the adjacent canals when the gates are open. In winter, when the gates of the canals are closed sporadically, then the canal starts drying. So, in that case, the lone dolphin which happened to travel in the canal for greener pastures, face mortal threat. Presently, we got some reports that a stranded dolphin is caught accidentally in net in one of the canals, and we are going there to rescue her and deliver her to the mother Indus”
Our eyes widened with interest
I could feel adrenaline rushing through my veins. I sat silently through the entire journey wishing well for the stranded dolphin. Finally, we disembarked on the banks of the canal and witnessed a huge dolphin trapped in a net.
The employees of WWF rushed into the water and sedated the beautiful creature and then 4 men carried the dolphin and placed it behind one of the single cabin truck with a temporary shade.
We were not moving and there was some kind of commotion around the dolphin truck, I was visibly agitated and wanted it back in the river as soon as possible. So I gathered my strength and made my way to the back of the truck. I witnessed a person who was attaching something to the dolphin.
I asked Uncle about it and showed my displeasure, that it is very irresponsible to make her wait and hurt like this.
He smiled and stroked my hairs and enlightened me:
“Son, don’t worry, dolphins can live out of the water for very long, provided they are kept out of heat and are getting enough moisture. That’s why we have put on a shade and a person will keep splasing water on her till we reach the river”
“Why they are hurting her”
“They are not hurting, a radio tag is being attached to her. So that next time, if it accidentally travels into the canal, we are able to promptly locate and relocate it” replied Uncle Bhagat.
A bit Satisfied with his explanation, I was still worried that the dolphin will die before we reach the river, So, i requested him that if we can sit with her on our return trip and pour water onto her? He permitted that and we hopped beside that ancient beautiful creature.
We were afraid in the start but slowly and gradually we started touching her grey skin, she was not moving much, but we could see her breathing. I kept on pouring water on her from a portable tank fitted in the truck for the same purpose. Gudda even hugged her but I was just into touching.
Finally, we reached our destination “Lab-e-Mehran” (a public park on the banks of Indus in Sukkur) and some 4–5 personnel lifted her and put her gently in the River.
The dolphin was alive and kicking. We could see her hopping and going away from Lab-e-Mehran.
Everyone cheered and my cheers were the loudest.
“As per WWF, since 2000, WWF and Sindh Wildlife department have rescued 80 dolphins from irrigation canals.”
I was lucky enough to be in one of those rescues!
