Dolphin Thought Extinct Spotted in China - AP

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Dolphin Thought Extinct Spotted in China

Wednesday August 29, 2007 4:01 PM

By ALEXA OLESEN

Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) - A white dolphin native to China's
Yangtze River that scientists declared extinct last
year has possibly been spotted swimming in the wild,
offering a small shred of hope for its revival, a
researcher said Wednesday.

Wang Ding, a researcher with the Institute of
Hydrobiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
said a man saw and shot a video of what appears to
be a baiji or white flag dolphin in central China's
Anhui province on Aug. 19.

-snip-

Wang said the animal in the video looks and acts like
a baiji and was seen about 25 miles downstream from
Anhui's Tongling city - a section of river that used
to be known as a hotspot for white flag dolphins.

But he said he cannot be 100 percent sure because
the video was taken from a distance of about 1,000
yards away and is not very clear.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6883479,00.html

[DS1]

1. They'd better eat it quick

[mike_c]

2. two words....

Viable population.

Maybe the baiji will come back if there are a few surviving individuals, but the likelihood is VERY POOR. The genetic bottleneck alone could doom the species even if it can recruit new offspring.

[GliderGuider]

3. "Investigating zoologists in research vessel run over last surviving baiji."

:shrug:

[Javaman]

4. So a chinese dolphin walks into a bar...nt

[Strelnikov_]

5. ..

Those who are about to go extinct salute you.