"We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the very first time." -- TS Eliot
The Yangtze River Dolphin, also know as the Baiji Dolphin, has been declared functionally extinct by a team of international marine biologists. This ancient dolphin has inhabited China’s longest river for over 20 millions years. According to Chinese legend this ‘relic species,’ which has been on earth longer than the Andes Mountains, was the embodiment of a river goddess.
The population had been in decline for years due to pollution, over-fishing and shipping, the virtually blind animal’s sonar being easily confused by engine noise. In December of last year a team of scientists went on a 39-day expedition to search for the freshwater mammal. Using two ships they covered over 3,500 kilometers of water in a stretch of the Yangtze between Yichang and Shanghai. They failed to spot a single river dolphin.
The scientists also monitored stocks of the Finless Porpoise, another species in dire straits. They estimated that numbers had halved since 1991. Conservationists are hoping to save these animals by keeping them in semi-captivity in local lake preserves, but unless man changes his habits these two species are likely to be the first in a long line of aquatic mammals to face extinction due to human activity.
