The baiji is sometimes called the Yangtze dolphin, the White fin or the White flag. The baiji is an animal that lives in the Yangtze River in China. There are believed to be very few baiji left in existence. Its official conservation status is Critically Endangered, but some scientists believe they are extinct. Whitefin Dolphin Chinese River Dolphin. Family: Platanistidae Genus: Lipotes Species: L.vexillifer Miller, 1918 Because the Baiji is indigenous to the waters within the People's Republic of China, western researchers have had little access to it or information concerning its habits and natural history. The baiji or Yangtze River dolphin, once found in the Yangtze River in China, is sadly now believed to be extinct. The baiji holds the unfortunate award for being the first whale or dolphin to be driven to extinction by humans; the baiji was sacrificed to population pressures and industrialisation of China.
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- Date:
- September 13, 2007
- Source:
- NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
- Summary:
- An international research team, including biologists from NOAA Fisheries Service has failed to find a single Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, during a six-week survey in China. The scientists fear the marine mammal is now extinct due to fishing and commercial development, which would make it the first cetacean to vanish as result of human activity.
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An international research team, including biologists from NOAA Fisheries Service, has reported in an online scientific journal that it had failed to find a single Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, during a six-week survey in China.
The scientists fear the marine mammal is now extinct due to fishing and commercial development, which would make it the first cetacean to vanish as result of human activity.
The research paper, published recently in the online journal Biology Letters, reports that an intensive acoustical and visual survey of the main Yangtze River where the baiji live failed to find what was already considered to be one of the world's most endangered species.
'The last time these animals were surveyed was in the 1990s when only 13 were found,' said Barbara Taylor, a marine biologist at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., and one of the researchers on the scientific team that was working with local scientists at the invitation of the Chinese government. Dockmate us llc. 'This time, we detected no baiji, either visually or acoustically. This would be the first human-caused extinction of a dolphin or whale and it is particularly sad for the last member of a family of a species that is over 20 million years old.'
The baiji is one of only a few dolphin species that is known to have adapted from the ocean to a freshwater environment. The likely cause of the baiji's decline is from the use of fishing nets with hooks that snag and drown the dolphins as bycatch. Other causes may include habitat degradation.
Scientists are also concerned that this could just be the first of many human-caused extinctions of marine mammals that are under stress around the world.
'We are concerned about several vulnerable species of dolphin and porpoise around the world, including the vaquita,' said Nicole Le Boeuf, international fisheries biologist for NOAA Fisheries. The vaquita is a critically endangered porpoise found only in the uppermost part of Mexico's Gulf of California. Vaquita have been reduced to only a few hundred animals because of accidental deaths in small-scale fishing nets. In addition to the vaquita, many coastal dolphins and porpoises in other parts of the world are highly vulnerable to being accidentally caught in similar fishing gear.
'The last time these animals were surveyed was in the 1990s when only 13 were found,' said Barbara Taylor, a marine biologist at NOAA's Southwest Fisheries Science Center in La Jolla, Calif., and one of the researchers on the scientific team that was working with local scientists at the invitation of the Chinese government. Dockmate us llc. 'This time, we detected no baiji, either visually or acoustically. This would be the first human-caused extinction of a dolphin or whale and it is particularly sad for the last member of a family of a species that is over 20 million years old.'
The baiji is one of only a few dolphin species that is known to have adapted from the ocean to a freshwater environment. The likely cause of the baiji's decline is from the use of fishing nets with hooks that snag and drown the dolphins as bycatch. Other causes may include habitat degradation.
Scientists are also concerned that this could just be the first of many human-caused extinctions of marine mammals that are under stress around the world.
'We are concerned about several vulnerable species of dolphin and porpoise around the world, including the vaquita,' said Nicole Le Boeuf, international fisheries biologist for NOAA Fisheries. The vaquita is a critically endangered porpoise found only in the uppermost part of Mexico's Gulf of California. Vaquita have been reduced to only a few hundred animals because of accidental deaths in small-scale fishing nets. In addition to the vaquita, many coastal dolphins and porpoises in other parts of the world are highly vulnerable to being accidentally caught in similar fishing gear.
'The vaquita and other highly imperiled marine mammals represent a major conservation challenge,' said Le Boeuf. 'There is very real global concern for these species, especially with the all but certain loss of the bajii in China. NOAA and its international partners are working together to lend their support to Mexico and other nations with similar species in their coastal and inland waters.'
In the end, it may come down to conserving not just dolphins and porpoises, but local communities as well. 'We have to find a way to let local fishermen put food on their tables that doesn't involve putting nets in the water that decimate these coastal dolphin species,' said Taylor.
Baiji dolphin sighted
Baiji White Dolphin Extinct
Note: There is a recent report of a sighting of a Yangtze River dolphin, based on a news release from the World Wildlife Fund (see http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070831123429.htm) The reported sighting of a baiji means there is still a chance for people to take further action and protect the cetaceans in the Yangtze from extinction, according to World Wildlife Fund. Based on the river's geographic and hydrological complexity and the official definition of extinction by IUCN, WWF and many scientists agreed that this species was 'functionally extinct', but thought it was still too early to declare its extinction.
Story Source:
Materials provided by NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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The Baiji the first dolphin
The Baiji the first dolphin to be declared extinct in modern time!
Baiji White Dolphin, also called the Chinese River Dolphin, can only be found in the Yangtze River in China.
These mammals could grow to eight feet long and weigh up to a quarter of a ton.
They relied on echolocation to navigate and hunt for pray due to their tiny eyes and very poor eyesight.
Living in the Yangtze for 20 million years, their numbers declined drastically from the 1950s onwards.
As China industrialised, the river was used for fishing, transportation and hydroelectricity which had a huge effect on the mammals.
Although not officially recorded as extinct, no one has seen a Yangtze River Dolphin since 2002.
The main threats that Baijis faced and took them to the extinction were:
– Bycatch. – Illegal fishing. Using electricity and rolling hooks. – Overfishing. An activity that reduced the number and diversity of available food. – Contamination produced by companies and factories near the river. – Collisions with boats. – Construction of dams that split populations.
This dolphin is protected in China since 1975 and in 1986 Chinese biologists established protection strategies. They even created a dolphin reserve along the Yangtze (Baiji Xin-Luo National Reserve), but obviously, it was too late to get results. Currently, the patrol boats of the reserve are responsible for supervising the compliance of the protection measures and investigating sightings and deaths of species that inhabit the river, but sadly these dolphins are not there anymore.
The Baiji or Chinese river dolphin, and beautiful
Dolphin Baiji
The baiji or Chinese river dolphin, and beautiful Goddess of the Yangtze lived for 20 million years in the Yangtze River, China.
The baiji's demise was rapid and shocking; it went from a healthy population of some 6000 animals to extinct in a few decades, nothing more than a blink of an eye.
Baiji White Dolphin Scientific Name
Source: US Whales
