India will be celebrating October 5 every year as the National Dolphin Day. This was announced by the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupendra Yadav who said the Standing Committee of the National Board for Wild had made this recommendation.

The objective of this was to create awareness about protection and conservation of dolphins and encouragement of community participation in the efforts directed towards this end.

Yadav who chaired the 67th meeting of the Committee said that healthy aquatic ecosystems are necessary for maintaining the overall health of the Earth and the dolphins act as an ideal ecological indicator for this. Further conservation of the dolphins will be beneficial for the survival of not just the species, but also, the people dependent on the aquatic system for their livelihood.

The Ministry has been taking up several activities for the protection and conservation of dolphins and its habitats.

Ganges river dolphin is a species of toothed whale and found in Ganga and other rivers in India, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is popularly known as susu or sisu in Assamese and shushuk in Bangla. The Government of India recognises this dolphin as the National Aquatic Animal and it is the official animal of Guwahati.

The mammal has been listed as endangered under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List since 1996. There has been a considerable reduction in their range and size due to human activity.