Chinese River Dolphin declared extinct

[GenuineRisk]

Depressing news from China. You think they'd have learned something from watching the US trash our own environment duriing the first half of the last century, but not so much...

| BEIJING The "goddess of the Yangtze", a freshwater dolphin
unique to the Chinese river, is extinct. The baiji, above, is the first big
mammal to disappear as a result of Man's destruction of its habitat and the
first cetacean, or member of the whale family, to die out.
| The long-beaked mammals had swum in the Yangtze for 20 million
years and could be seen in their hundreds until the 1980s. Not one was
sighted during a six-week expedition. August Pfluger, its Swiss
conservationist leader, said: "We have to accept that the baiji is
functionally extinct. We have lost the race."
| The UN environment programme has declared the Yangtze a dead
zone, its water lacking sufficient oxygen to support fish.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

Depressing news from China. You think they'd have learned something from watching the US trash our own environment duriing the first half of the last century, but not so much...

| BEIJING The "goddess of the Yangtze", a freshwater dolphin
unique to the Chinese river, is extinct. The baiji, above, is the first big
mammal to disappear as a result of Man's destruction of its habitat and the
first cetacean, or member of the whale family, to die out.
| The long-beaked mammals had swum in the Yangtze for 20 million
years and could be seen in their hundreds until the 1980s. Not one was
sighted during a six-week expedition. August Pfluger, its Swiss
conservationist leader, said: "We have to accept that the baiji is
functionally extinct. We have lost the race."
| The UN environment programme has declared the Yangtze a dead
zone, its water lacking sufficient oxygen to support fish.

GR,
That is very depressing. I'll have to search for the link, but if memory serves, by 2040, one quarter of the planet's species will become extinct.
Polar bears are expected to become so very soon.

[repent]

I dont like the environment and Im glad this animal is dead.
at least we dont have to worry about saving it anymore.

there are a couple of other animals Id like to kill off starting with those damn mules who took my money at Fairplex.


Repent

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by repent

I dont like the environment and Im glad this animal is dead.
at least we dont have to worry about saving it anymore.

there are a couple of other animals Id like to kill off starting with those damn mules who took my money at Fairplex.


Repent

It figures........

[Seattleallstar]

this is sad news, its actually a tragedy of sorts. It reflects what man has done to its own earth.

[repent]

Originally Posted by Seattleallstar

this is sad news, its actually a tragedy of sorts. It reflects what man has done to its own earth.

yeah,
well like you said, its our earth and we can do whatever we want to with it.

I know I sure as hell never made a dime off a chinese dolphin.
good ridance.



Repent

[Rupert Pupkin]

Here is a link to the article:

http://news.independent.co.uk/enviro...cle2083841.ece

[Rupert Pupkin]

There is not nearly enough being done to protect the oceans. With all the over-fishing, soon there won't be any fish left. Something has to be done.

There is a great group that I support called the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. They are trying to make a difference. The head of the group is the co-founder of Greenpeace. He left Greenpeace because he thought it had gotten too big and too political. His name is Captain Paul Watson. He is a great man. He doesn't take any salary.

If anyone wants to check the group out, here is their website.

http://www.seashepherd.org/

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

There is not nearly enough being done to protect the oceans. With all the over-fishing, soon there won't be any fish left. Something has to be done.

There is a great group that I support called the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. They are trying to make a difference. The head of the group is the co-founder of Greenpeace. He left Greenpeace because he thought it had gotten too big and too political. His name is Captain Paul Watson. He is a great man. He doesn't take any salary.

If anyone wants to check the group out, here is their website.

http://www.seashepherd.org/

I agree with you about overfishing needing to be addressed-- both to protect the health of the environment and to keep fishing as a viable job. There are a number of fish I've elected not to eat because they're too overfished. Admittedly, not terribly hard for me as I don't eat much meat to begin with, but I still miss things like cod. But hey, it's just food. Not like I'm not fortunate enough to live in a country where there are plenty of other things to eat.

Another threat to the oceans (and other waterways) is the factory farms and the sheer amount of animal waste dumped into the water. Rolling Stone has a good article in this month's issue about pig farms and the environmental damage they do (cruelty factor aside). But hey, in America we want our cheap bacon and pork chops and if it means killing the oceans and poisoning our fellow Americans who live near the farms, well, that's okay, right Repent?

BTW-- funny comment about the Fairplex mules. Made me laugh.

[GenuineRisk]

Here's the article about pork farming:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics...orst_polluters

I don't have any moral issues about eating meat, but I figure if one is going to eat meat, one has an obligation to understand exactly what the consequences are on an environmental level. It's a sobering article.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

There is not nearly enough being done to protect the oceans. With all the over-fishing, soon there won't be any fish left. Something has to be done.

There is a great group that I support called the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. They are trying to make a difference. The head of the group is the co-founder of Greenpeace. He left Greenpeace because he thought it had gotten too big and too political. His name is Captain Paul Watson. He is a great man. He doesn't take any salary.

If anyone wants to check the group out, here is their website.

http://www.seashepherd.org/

Rupert,
That's a very good link. Thanks.
In my humble opinion, in addition to the oceans, the estuaries are in need of protection. They are the interface where rivers enter the oceans, and they provide the nursery for many life forms. Of the 22 major river systems that enter the oceans from the United States, guess how many are unpolluted at their deltas. None.
I grew up living near a beautiful estuary. It was between Leonia and Teaneck, New Jersey. It's name was "Overpeck Creek", and it formed the headwaters of what we called "the swamps", but most others called it the "Meadowlands". As it made its way toward Newark Bay, it provided stop over for migratory birds, nesting grounds for indigenous ones, many kinds of marine creatures, from blue crabs to stripers, and many mammals also.
It was a place where I found my first box turtle and caught my first bull frog.
Today, it's been mostly filled. Route 80 goes through the center of it, and further down, Giants Stadium and The Meadowlands Racetrack sit in the midst of acres of asphalt where once, not too long ago, a great diversity of life existed.
Oh well..progress happens.
At least I got to see it when it was there. I'll always remember it.