Rare River Dolphin... Extinct

I didn't see this posted anywhere, so in case you missed it

The rare white-flag dolphin, called baiji, has seemingly disappeared from the Yangtze River, its only habitat. If true, the estimated three-million-year-old species is now extinct.

Bai-ji (literally "white porpoise" in Chinese) is nicknamed "The Goddess of Yangtze", a cruel metaphor that the death of a goddess should accompany the rapid industrialization of the Yangtze region. This is not to say that the people should remain impoverished, but extinction is forever.

•  The Last Passenger Pigeon

  by clone12 on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:14:45 PM PDT

  •  Wasn't this predicted?

    Wasn't the extinction of this dolphin one of the predicted effects of bulding the Three Gorges Dam? Such a waste.

    by Brian Bell on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 03:08:36 PM PDT

•  These dolphins were in a Douglas Adams book

  Last Chance to See - a nonfiction book, still completely worth reading.

  I am very, very sad to learn that they are gone.

  by javelina on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:17:01 PM PDT

  •  It's Depressing

    by clone12 on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:17:36 PM PDT

  •  another Adams fan

    beating me to the punch!

    by zenbowl on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:17:39 PM PDT

  •  Here's the AP article, via SFChron.

    http://sfgate.com/...

    The baiji dates back 20 million years. Chinese called it the "goddess of the Yangtze." For China, its disappearance symbolizes how unbridled economic growth is changing the country's environment irreparably, some environmentalists say.

    "It's a tremendously sad day when any species goes extinct. It becomes more of a public tragedy to lose a large, charismatic species like the river dolphin," said Chris Williams, manager of river basin conservation for the World Wildlife Fund in Washington.

    "The loss of a large animal like a river dolphin is often a harbinger for what's going on in the larger system as whole. It's not only the loss of a beautiful animal but an indication that the way its habitat is being managed, the way we're interacting with the natural environment of the river is deeply flawed ... if a species like this can't survive."

    Recommend.

    by Mogolori on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:25:23 PM PDT

•  That's terrible news

  Although anyone who has seen the Yangzi recently won't be surprised. That river is a mess.

  The Baiji, incidentally, was in Douglas Adams' Last Chance to See, an environmental must-read. When he travels to China to cover this rare dolphin, he is actually honored with a feast that includes a baby Baiji.

  by zenbowl on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:17:21 PM PDT

  •  How horrible.

    It's like a sick, sick joke.

    by Sharoney on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 07:46:21 PM PDT

•  The story from the most recent search,

  which just ended:
  Search for Rare Dolphin Ends in Failure

  A few baiji may still exist in their native Yangtze habitat in eastern China but not in sufficient numbers to breed and ward off extinction, said August Pfluger, the Swiss co-leader of the joint Chinese-foreign expedition.

  "We have to accept the fact, that the Baiji is functionally extinct. We lost the race," Pfluger said in a statement released by the expedition. "It is a tragedy, a loss not only for China, but for the entire world. We are all incredibly sad."

  The next to go may be the vaquita:
  The Vaquita, the world's smallest cetacean, dives toward extinction

  The population of the Vaquita, a species of porpoise that measures less than 1.5 m (five feet) long and is endemic to the northwestern corner of the Gulf of California, is believed to be around 400 individuals, making it one of the two most critically endangered small cetaceans in the world. However, unlike whales and some other cetaceans that have been diminished by hunting or habitat degradation, the decline of the Vaquita is purely accidental. Its diminutive size and small range puts the species at particular risk to entanglement in gill nets set for fish and shrimp fishing. Estimates from the Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) suggest that 8-16 percent of Vaquitas may be lost annually as bycatch, indicating that the species could be extinct by 2050.

  With no intended irony, Welcome to the Year of the Dolphin

  Threats for dolphins are on the rise: They face entanglement in fishing nets, marine pollution , prey depletion due to overfishing, deliberate hunting and disturbance from noise. These are only some of the causes why they might soon be extinct in the world’s seas.

  To help stop this process, the United Nations Environment Programme/Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) along with ACCOBAMS and ASCOBANS decided to launch the Year of the Dolphin 2007. This campaign will involve Governments, NGOs and the private sector around the world to emphasize the need to protect dolphin species. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) and the tourist group TUI are partners.

  "The Year of the Dolphin gives me the opportunity to renew my firm commitment towards protecting marine biodiversity. With this strong initiative we can make a difference to save these fascinating marine mammals from the brink of extinction", said Prince Albert, the patron of the campaign.

  by melvin on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:26:54 PM PDT

  •  Let's Save the Vaquita

    Before they too, disappear...

    by clone12 on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:28:56 PM PDT

•  Here's what the baiji looked like

  

  by Bouwerie Boy on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:30:38 PM PDT

  •  And the vaquita:

    

    by melvin on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:39:32 PM PDT

  •  Bye!

    It was nice sharing a planet with you. Sorry. Keep smiling.

    by NewDirection on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:53:26 PM PDT

•  I become more of a misanthrope every day

  When humans start dying en masse as a result of an environmental phenomenon, maybe world governing bodies will actually start to care.

  It'll be too late, then, of course, but we'll deserve it.

  by Plutonium Page on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:31:36 PM PDT

•  All The River Dolphin Species Are In Danger

  The Amazonian Dolphin may not be 'endangered' but the trends are not good.  The Indus River species is more or less screwed, as Pakistan refuses to take care of the river that began civilization, home to species of reptile and bird (and a dolphin) that only live there.

  by Nulwee on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:46:34 PM PDT

  •  And they are such fascinating creatures too.

    For those interested, WWF's factsheet on river dolphins. (Warning! 4-page pdf)

    by melvin on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:57:31 PM PDT

•  this is so sad

  It is horrible to lose any species, but especially sad to me to lose one from the cetacean family.

  by Loonesta on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:48:54 PM PDT

•  People Are Impoverished

  When their world takes yet another step towards it's unevolved state. This is millions if not billions of years of evolution wasted, never to be redone.

  by NewDirection on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 12:52:23 PM PDT

•  Sorrow

  I'm indescribably sad.

  by Geronimo on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 01:38:14 PM PDT

•  a world of wounds, and of hope

  For those who work professionally in the conservation arena, these kinds of stories are sadly part of every working day... and it never gets any easier.  Sort of like being an E.R. doctor, I imagine.  Apropos of that analogy, here's what the pioneering ecologist and conservationist Aldo Leopold once wrote on the theme:  

  One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in a world of wounds.  Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible to laymen.  An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well and does not want to be told otherwise.

  But we're also recipients, too, of the bits of good news.  So here's one bit.  Sixty years ago, whooping cranes were down to just fifteen or so individuals in the whole world. On December 9, the first wild whooping crane chick to hatch and survive in the eastern United States in over a century successfully completed its fall migration, arriving in northern Florida with its parents. This young bird is the first to be hatched and raised by adults that have been reintroduced in Wisconsin, and taught to migrate using ultralight planes. This is a very important milestone in establishing a self-sustaining, breeding migratory population of whooping cranes in the eastern U.S.  Check out the news (and support the cause if you are able!) at http://www.operationmigration.org/ and http://www.bringbackthecranes.org/.

  That other great son of Wisconsin, Fighting Bob La Follette, once said

  We are slow to realize that democracy is a life, and involves continual struggle.

  So is conservation "a life."  We've lost a lot, and we continue to lose battles.  But we can occasionally bring back a species, or a place... and, as we did on November 7, we can occasionally bring back democracy (at least part way).  And as places like Dailykos show, we no longer live alone in this world of wounds, and we are not alone in the continual struggle....

  by strobusguy on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 01:41:30 PM PDT

•  I Only Hope

  There are still a viable number of snow leopards left.

  by Near Vanna on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 02:04:02 PM PDT

•  thanks...

  

  I also diaried about this here.

  by lokiloki on Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 03:24:44 PM PDT