"I consider myself a strong man," he said. "But when I saw that footage I cried for several minutes. It's just so terribly sad."
That was August Pfluger's response to watching a video of Qi Qi (pronounced "chee-chee"), the last known member of the now apparently extinct Chinese River Dolphin, or baiji. Qi Qi died in 2002 after over 20 years living in captivity. She was rescued after being caught in fish hooks and brought to the aquarium.
Pfluger lead a team along China's Yangtze river (the dolphin's only habitat) in a 6-week search for any remaining dolphins that might still be alive but their quest was fruitless and they have essentially declared the species extinct. Official recognition of the extinct status takes a lot longer to reach.
There are now only 5 remaining species of freshwater dolphins, and 4 of them are "critically endangered."
As usual, the culprit is human exploitation of the rivers. In the case of the baiji, industrial needs led to the dredging and deepening of the river, boats propellers may confuse the dolphin's sonar, and pollution reduces the dolphin's food supply, which consists of smaller fishes in the river.
Baiji is the first large species of (aquatic) mammal to become extinct since the Caribbean monk seal was driven to extinction by over hunting in the 1950s.
National Geographic Article
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