Conservationists have reported that around 6,000 rare Irrawaddy dolphins, residing in the freshwater regions of Bangladesh's Sundarbans and adjacent Bay of Bengal waters, form the largest population of these endangered sea mammals in the wild. This discovery was disclosed by the Wildlife Conservation Society at the First International Conference on Marine Mammal Protected Areas in Maui. It was noted that previously, the largest known populations of Irrawaddy dolphins only numbered in the low hundreds. Dr. Steven Sanderson, president of the Wildlife Conservation Society, expressed optimism about the protection of this and other endangered species and their habitats due to the presence of a thriving population in Bangladesh. The study, conducted in an area with limited marine mammal research, was authored by Brian Smith, Rubaiyat Mansur Mowgli, and Samantha Strindberg of the Wildlife Conservation Society, as well as Benazir Ahmed of Chittagong University in Bangladesh. Despite the discovery of a significant population of Irrawaddy dolphins, the authors caution that these dolphins are facing a growing threat from accidental entanglement in fishing nets. The researchers encountered two dolphins that had become trapped and drowned in fishing nets during the study, a situation that local fishermen report as being common. The Irrawaddy dolphin, also known as Orcaella brevirostris, can reach up to eight feet in length and inhabits large rivers, estuaries, and freshwater lagoons in South and Southeast Asia. In the Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar, these dolphins are famous for engaging in "cooperative fishing" with humans, where they help herd schools of fish towards fishing boats and nets to assist fishermen in catching more fish. The dolphins seem to benefit from this partnership by easily capturing the cornered and fallen fish as the fishermen pull the net out of the water. In 2006, WCS played a role in creating a protected area by the Ayeyarwady River to protect the endangered mammal population. The New York-based WCS is currently collaborating with the Ministry of Environment and Forests in Bangladesh to establish a protected area network for both Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins in the Sundarbans mangrove forest. According to the conservation group, funding is essential for continuing these initiatives as well as WCS's ongoing work to research the impact of climate change on this habitat, promote sustainable fishing methods, and create local ecotourism initiatives.