The Chinese river dolphin or also known as baiji is one of the said first extinct species of dolphins that holds the record of being the first dolphin species we have driven out to extinction, but some still believe that the mammal is only endangered and is still possibly roaming around in the waters. So which is which, is the creature still alive? stick around to find out.
Let's first get to know the baiji.
Where were they from?
The river dolphins lived in the Yangtze River, China for 20 million long years. And was ironically wiped out by humans in less than 50 years. The numbers drastically went down until they finally disappeared from the river. The baiji is one of only a few dolphin species that is known to have adapted from the ocean to a freshwater environment. The Yangtze is the third-longest and largest river in the world and the biggest river in Asia. Baijis lived largely in the mainstream of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and two large connecting lakes - Dongting and Poyang.
What was life like for them?
They liked to live in small groups of two-six. I like to think that I and the baijis would get along very well because these beautiful creatures are a lot similar to me quiet, shy, and difficult to approach.
Baijis primarily relied on echolocation to find their way around and hunt freshwater fish in the river and connecting lakes. The baiji’s eyesight was poor and anyway not particularly useful because visibility in the water often wasn’t good. And as Human exploitation and development of the Yangtze River rapidly escalated and the associated noise pollution increased rapidly as hundreds of boats using the river quickly became thousands of noisy ships using it as an aquatic highway. This was a major problem for them because the poor ability of these creatures to communicate, navigate and avoid danger became increasingly challenging because of the reliance on echolocation to look for food.
Their survival became extremely challenging when the Three-Gorges Dam construction was approved. It began in 1994 and its construction continued for several years. The construction aggressively disrupted not only the river dolphin's lives in the river but also the other native species.
Reasons for its extinction/ endangerment of the creature
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. And based on research the probable cause of it is the pollution of the river, construction of the dam, and was more on because of human activity.
Rumours of its extinction
Barbara Taylor, a marine biologist had confirmed that the last time it was surveyed was way back in the 1990's and only 13 baijis were found. and she continues to say
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 the only member of the mammal family called Lipotidae. The extinction of the baiji also marks the extinction of the entire ancient Lipotidae family the baiji represented.
But, these are only half of it because there have been sightings of the beautiful river dolphin and that only means that there is a large chance for people to take action in this matter.
I'm gonna leave you with a quote from Dalai Lama:
"It is our collective and individual responsibility to preserve and tend to the world in which we all live"
I guess that wraps it up for today
have a great day ahead folks,
peace out✌️
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