Irrawaddy Dolphins in Mekong Face Ecological Crisis, Local Tourists Offer Cautious Hope

Every morning for 11 years, boat operator Heang Koeurn has guided tourists to spot the Mekong’s only cetaceans, the Irrawaddy dolphin, in Kampi pool, a 60‑meter‑deep stretch of the river in northern Stung Treng province on Cambodia’s border with Laos. The sighting draws foreign visitors who point at the dolphins’ dorsal fins, and Koeurn says the tours generate income for the community. Yet the Mekong is in ecological crisis, with habitat degradation threatening the dolphins and the species that rely on the river, such as the giant freshwater stingray. The decline of the dolphins would cut a key source of tourism revenue and erode traditional livelihoods that depend on the river’s health.