People under umbrellas cross the Buriganga by a boat amid pouring rain. Crowded boats often ferry passengers without the necessary safety equipment, putting people in harm’s way. The photo was taken at Dhaleshwar Kheyaghat in the capital’s Shyampur yesterday.
Photo: Palash Khan
A crowded corridor of the medicine outpatient department at the capital’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital. The dengue outbreak has been straining many health facilities in the country for months.
Photo: Prabir Das
DOTS AND SPOTS … A juvenile panther grouper, otherwise also known as the polka dot grouper, swimming through the Bay of Bengal in Saint Martin’s Island. This striking fish is widely distributed throughout the tropical waters of the central Indo-West-Pacific region. Its peculiar shape, for which it is also called humpback grouper, is due to the fact that its body is compressed laterally and high, with a snout in the front. It’s body shape and colour together help it camouflage itself. It often swims downwards in search of food and is highly predatorial – it will eat anything that can fit into its mouth! Its colouration is more vibrant when it’s young and as it grows -- which it does very fast -- their silver base dulls down. Unfortunately, the polka dot grouper has been given the “Data Deficient” status by the IUCN due to lack of information about its population and numbers. However, the fish is consumed widely in Southeast Asia, where it is overexploited. Due to overfishing and the pet trade, it is suspected that panther grouper populations have declined historically and continue to do so.
PHOTO: SHARIF SARWAR
