Project Dolphin

India’s National Aquatic Animal cannot actually see. It navigates the Ganga’s murky water entirely by sound. In December 2024, scientists tagged one for the first time, hoping to finally understand where it goes.

A Ganges River Dolphin surfaces, its long beak-like snout breaking the water. Photo by Kukil Gogoi, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

MCQquestion.com

EnvEco0049 · Environment and Ecology

Blind, But Tracked at Last

India’s National Aquatic Animal navigates by sound alone — and was tagged for the first time in 2024

2009

National Aquatic Animal

The Ganges River Dolphin is formally named India’s National Aquatic Animal.

2019

Preliminary Approval

Project Dolphin gets the nod at the first meeting of the PM-led National Ganga Council, under Arth Ganga.

15 Aug 2020

Project Dolphin Launched

PM Narendra Modi formally launches the programme, funded through MoEFCC and the National CAMPA Authority.

18 Dec 2024

First Dolphin Tagged

The Wildlife Institute of India tags a Ganges River Dolphin for the first time ever, in Assam — a world first.

19 Jan 2026

Second Survey Launched

India’s second range-wide riverine dolphin count begins from Bijnor, UP, covering the Ganga and Indus.

~90% Live in India

A 2025 national survey counted 6,327 river dolphins across India, a sharp rise on older estimates of under 2,000 — but the species remains Endangered on the IUCN list.

📑 Contents

1Timeline
2Must Know
3Good to Know
4Test Yourself
5Great to Know
6Current Affairs
7Previous Year Questions

Timeline

2009: The Ganges River Dolphin is declared India’s National Aquatic Animal.
2019: Project Dolphin gets preliminary approval, at the first meeting of the Prime Minister-led National Ganga Council.
15 August 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally launches Project Dolphin.
18 December 2024: The Wildlife Institute of India tags a Ganges River Dolphin for the first time ever, in Assam.
19 January 2026: India launches its second range-wide dolphin survey, starting from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh.

Must Know

🏛️ Must Know

Project Dolphin and the Species

Project Dolphin Project Dolphin is India’s conservation programme for the Ganges River Dolphin, launched by PM Modi on 15 August 2020. It is funded by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), through the National CAMPA Authority.
National Aquatic Animal The Ganges River Dolphin (Platanista gangetica) is India’s National Aquatic Animal, declared so in 2009. It lives in the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli river systems.
Functionally Blind The species is functionally blind. Its eyes are degenerated and lack a lens, so it relies almost entirely on echolocation to navigate and hunt.
Population About 90% of the world’s Ganges River Dolphins live in India. A 2025 national survey counted 6,327 river dolphins across India, mostly in the Ganga basin, a big rise from older estimates of under 2,000. The species is still listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Good to Know

📘 Good to Know

How Project Dolphin Works

Objectives Project Dolphin’s objectives include a systematic status assessment of dolphin populations and threats. They also cover a full conservation action plan, and greater involvement of local stakeholders.
Umbrella Species Ganges River Dolphins act as an apex predator and umbrella species. Protecting them helps protect the health of the entire river ecosystem they live in.
Threats Key threats include water pollution, habitat destruction, entanglement in fishing nets, dam construction, sand mining, and collisions with boats.
Hard to Study The dolphin surfaces for only 5 to 30 seconds at a time, making it difficult to study. This is a major reason the December 2024 tagging exercise mattered so much.
Arth Ganga Link The 2019 preliminary approval for Project Dolphin came as part of Arth Ganga. This is a broader inter-ministerial initiative, connecting river conservation to economic activity along the Ganga.

📝 Previous Year Questions

UPSC CSP 2026 — Dolphins as Evidence of Ancient River Links

UPSC 2026 Consider the following assertion: in the Pleistocene period either the Yamuna once flowed into the Indus. See UPSC CSP 2026, GS Paper I.

UPSC CSP 2015 — The National Aquatic Animal

UPSC 2015 The Gangetic dolphin is India’s National Aquatic Animal, declared so in 2009. See UPSC CSP 2015 GS Paper I, Q25. View this question.

Test Yourself

Great to Know

🌟 Great to Know

A Familiar Conservation Pattern

Flagship Species Project Dolphin follows a familiar Indian conservation pattern: naming a single flagship species to drive protection of an entire ecosystem. See EnvEco0041 — Kailash Sankhala: The Tiger Man of India, on the man behind Project Tiger, the original template for this approach.
Why Tagging Matters A species that cannot be seen underwater is hard to protect. Tagging one animal with a working satellite tracker teaches conservationists more about its habits than decades of indirect river surveys ever could.

Dolphins as Evidence of Ancient River Links

Same Species, Two Basins The Ganges and Indus river dolphins are the same species. They live in two river systems that are not connected today.
A Pleistocene Link Dolphins can only spread between river basins through connected channels. Their shared presence points to a real link between the Ganga and Indus systems, in the Pleistocene period.

Current Affairs

📰 Current Affairs

Second Dolphin Survey and the First Tagging (2024-2026)

Second Survey (2026) On 19 January 2026, India launched the second range-wide estimation of riverine and estuarine dolphins under Project Dolphin. It started from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. The first phase covers the Ganga (Bijnor to Ganga Sagar) and the Indus River. (Source: PIB)
First Full Count (2025) On 3 March 2025, PM Modi released India’s first-ever comprehensive river dolphin estimation report. He did so at the National Board for Wildlife meeting in Gir. It counted 6,327 river dolphins across 28 rivers in 8 states, with Uttar Pradesh highest, then Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam. (Source: PIB)
First Tagging (2024) On 18 December 2024, the Wildlife Institute of India tagged a healthy male Ganges River Dolphin in Assam, with the Assam Forest Department and Aaranyak. It was the first such tagging ever for the species. (Source: PIB)
The Tag Itself The lightweight satellite tag uses the Argos system, designed to minimise interference with the dolphin’s movement. It will help track seasonal and migratory patterns. (Source: PIB)
Minister’s Reaction Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav called it a “historic milestone” for the species and for India. He also confirmed plans to extend tagging to other states. (Source: PIB)