Yangtze River Dolphin extinct

[Wildcard]

I don't mean to hijack the thread... but curiousity is killing me. In what way is the situation in Darfur BS??

And yes, the shark situation is appalling. Will there be anything left in the oceans for my children? too depressing.

Again and again there are "write a letter to GWB to stop the killing in Darfur". The UN has tried time and time again to go in and there government as well as the AU has said NO! The same people that want GWB to pull out of Iraq after going in to stop genocide now want him, as if he is the UN, to jump into another country to do the same thing. It's nothing more than an anti Bush protest. Just look at who is behind it. Should it stop? Of course! Who is going to stop it? Well, it has to be the UN, just like Iraq. Give me 60 seconds and I can convince a nun that killing puppies is a good thing if you ignore the facts. All Im asking is to LOOK at the details before taking a stand for or aganst something. Many if not most protests are not what they seem on the surface.
Now back to Chinas development and it's wholesale destruction of it's environment in the process.
I see a second person now believes that RIVER dolphins exsist in the ocean.:shakehead

 

[AmyJ]

No, I realize this thread was started about the dolphins in the RIVER... but the problem is systemic and affects all the waters on the globe.... rivers, seas, oceans and lakes.... and as a person who primarily dives in the OCEANS, I have to wonder if there will be anything left there... or in any body of water for my children to see. The river dolphin situation is just ONE stage and symptom of the problem as a whole... too much human presence in the waters (boats, subs, etc), pollution etc. and a population that is unwilling to make changes for the good of the planet.

 

[Wildcard]

There has been two people that have pointed out that there may be more of them in the ocean. That was that point. Boats, subs ect have little impact as comapred to dumping millions of tons of garbage and polutants into the rivers/ocean every day.

 

[Midnight Star]

It's mostly pollution, deforestation, and encroachments that cause most modern day extinctions; I guess we consider other living organisms as being "in our way" ... which doesn't surprise me, given the driving habits of people today; no where to go, with too little time to get there.

Hang on there mac, your giving my rear bumper razor burn, and i'm already going 10 pmh over the speed limit. Now just where would you like ME to go?

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Mike.

 

[lock_washer]

Its too late for the Yanzte River Dolphins...however you still can save the finless porpoise there in China. But alot of people don't realize that in Baja, California in the upper area there is another porpoise on the verge of extinction...the vaquita (the Gulf of California harbor porpoise). There's only about 400 of them left, but they are getting caught in gill nets bigtime. I know this is a unpopular idea, but to save the vaquita, the best option is to capture a few for captivity and breed them there. Sea World has perfected artificial insemination with orcas, lags, and bottlenose dolphins. Plus if people see the live animal on display, they would want to do more to help save it. I know some people hate captivity, but since Georgia Aquarium put 4 whale sharks on display...people are more interested in them.

 

[H2Andy]

There's only about 400 of them left, but they are getting caught in gill nets bigtime. I know this is a unpopular idea, but to save the vaquita, the best option is to capture a few for captivity

not to stop use of gill nets?

 

[Midnight Star]

I agree. Complete exploitation, whether due to political (other countries saying, hey look world, we can do it too) or monetary benefits (black marketing exotic species, or showing endangered animals in inadequate facilities for monetary gain), back in the day, really gave zoos and other quality "habitats" a bad rap. Which is a shame really, since often times, it's the animals "last stand"; farewell Thylacine, and farewell to others.

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Mike.

 

[Midnight Star]

not to stop use of gill nets?

I think the problem is, after they get that low, with naturally occuring predation and disease, you almost need a controlled environment to help them swing back up more quickly.

In a way, I wish things were that simple; it always swings into an "us" (people) vs. "them" (dumb subordinate animals), even when that's far from the truth.

Wasn't the Thylacine hunted because of the need to feed a growing populus, and local "cattlemen" thought as "grisly" as the tasmanian wolf looked, it MUST be responsible for the killing of livestock? So they killed everyone they could find. It's hauntingly familiar to the american mountain lion? It kills one or two sheep, so to keep from having to "worry" about the possibility, let's hunt and kill them all. Problem solved.

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Mike.

 

[gangrel441]

It is impossible to say that there are none of this dolphin anywhere in the ocean.

That would be quite a feat, considering this is a FRESH water dolphin.

 

[lock_washer]

But a captive scenario is the best option to save animals when they have no chance in the wild. I would like to see a vaquita in the wild, but they are not going to make it with out our help.