Mo Ganji: Irrawaddy Dolphin | Irawadi-Delfin | Orcaella brevirostris | No. 105/250 from work group 8/99

Irrawaddy Dolphin | Irawadi-Delfin | Orcaella brevirostris

Mo Ganji’s single line turns toward the Irrawaddy dolphin — a coastal and riverine cetacean with a rounded head and understated dorsal profile — by letting its inner coherence come forward rather than its outward distinctiveness. The continuous line holds a concentrated kernel of presence, allowing the being to appear without being bound to the idea of “dolphin” alone. In this quiet exposure of the essential, form remains open, suspended between recognition and possibility.

Orcaella brevirostris is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List. The species inhabits shallow coastal waters, estuaries and several major river systems in South and Southeast Asia, including the Mekong, Ayeyarwady and Mahakam rivers. Many of these populations are small, isolated and declining, with some riverine groups numbering only a few dozen individuals.

The principal threats include entanglement in fishing gear, habitat degradation, pollution, boat traffic and the construction of dams that disrupt river flow and fragment populations. Because Irrawaddy dolphins show strong site fidelity and limited dispersal between habitats, local declines are often irreversible. Noise disturbance and declining fish stocks further undermine their long-term survival.

Ganji’s single line opens a space in which the dolphin can be encountered beyond charisma or conservation symbolism. It invites attention to a presence shaped by shallow waters and slow movement, quietly reminding us that human boundaries drawn across rivers and coasts often fracture living continuities — and that recognizing ourselves as part of these shared waters is inseparable from allowing such beings to persist.