First large aquatic mammal to go extinct since the California monk seal (1950)

December 14, 2006 11:22 AM

"It's possible that there are two or three left that we missed somehow, but functionally they are extinct." (A sad follow-up to this post.) You may know the baiji dolphin from the book Last Chance to See^ or the blog following those animals, Another Chance to See. Their decline^ led to an expedition to search for survivors. The baiji team is now shifting its concern to the Yangtze's finless porpoises, down to 400 individuals.
posted by salvia (15 comments total)

Why are some of the links not around the relevant keywords? I thought that was a limitation of the earliest text-only browsers circa-1993 or so. It reminds me of gopher. Are we really that bored with context?

I've got an image of the Last Chance To See CDROM - it's amazing how much Voyager managed to do with so little resources, although there is a lot of ditherig and pixellation. Voyager's Sound Toys is still a favourite of mine to potter with.
posted by meehawl at 11:36 AM on December 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

I^ will^ miss^ these^ dolphins^.
posted by chunking express at 11:37 AM on December 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

The other thread is still open.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 11:37 AM on December 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

Want to save some dolphins? Just call the world's tallest man.
posted by Terminal Verbosity at 12:07 PM on December 14, 2006

Is this what happens when you're only the second smartest thing in the river?

Very sad.
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 12:16 PM on December 14, 2006

Kirth Gerson writes "The other thread is still open."

The other thread.
posted by mr_roboto at 12:21 PM on December 14, 2006

Their collective tombstone could read:

Once worshipped as river goddesses, ultimately killed by people's shit.

Note: I have tears in my eyes. I love dolphins.
posted by melangell at 12:40 PM on December 14, 2006

.

"Last Change To See" inspired me into my career as an ecologist. This makes me sad.
posted by Jimbob at 2:09 PM on December 14, 2006

The fat lady is singing.
posted by mongonikol at 3:19 PM on December 14, 2006

mr_roboto, I didn't bother to link to it, because the OP did already: A sad follow-up to this post.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:02 PM on December 14, 2006

I am heartbroken, and outraged. This could...this SHOULD...have been prevented.

.
posted by perilous at 5:58 PM on December 14, 2006

My hope is that this will galvanize the microscopic environmental movement in China to get more action taken.

My cynicism knows that it won't have much effect given the political situation.
posted by dhartung at 6:05 PM on December 14, 2006

.
posted by honeydew at 7:24 PM on December 14, 2006

.

And Last Chance to See is a damn fine book
posted by Songdog at 7:28 PM on December 14, 2006

That's terrible news.
Is this correct?
'Scientists estimated the baiji migrated up the Yangtze from the East China Sea as far back as 20 million years ago'.
posted by tellurian at 7:36 PM on December 14, 2006