A sad day for dolphins.

[Mr. P]

I liked Lassie better... endangered species just don't have the same stage presence as domesticated animals. Plus, having June Lockhart as an owner didn't hurt, either.

Lassie was good.. so was Rin tin tin.

 

[Mr. P]

Well, It's good to see that some of the people here care: Abbey Normal, Dr. Grump (if I had any rep points to give, it would be here).

20 million years of evolution.... snuffed out in the space of 30 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_River_Dolphin]
That is as significant from a human perspective as the extinction of chimps or gorillas (10 million years of seperated evolution from us). Would the rest of you who make jokes about tuna etc. be so humorous then?

Bitch at China. Seems to me we are covered with save this save that all the time what did China do? Reminds me of kyoto..Pins our ears back but everyone else is free to do as they wish..Read China. Can't place this at our doorstep, Sorry.

 

[Abbey Normal]

Well, It's good to see that some of the people here care: Abbey Normal, Dr. Grump (if I had any rep points to give, it would be here).

20 million years of evolution.... snuffed out in the space of 30 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_River_Dolphin]
That is as significant from a human perspective as the extinction of chimps or gorillas (10 million years of seperated evolution from us). Would the rest of you who make jokes about tuna etc. be so humorous then?

Thanks for the thought. I am in that minority of conservatives who care about animals, and the environment in general.
I don't see them as mutually exclusive.

Rep points for you!

 

[jillian]

Thanks for the thought. I am in that minority of conservatives who care about animals, and the environment in general.
I don't see them as mutually exclusive.

Rep points for you!

Yah... I've never understood why people on the right think it's somehow "liberal" to care about things like the environment and wildlife. I've always thought issues like that should cut across party affiliation.

Goof that you see it the same way.

 

[Mr. P]

Thanks for the thought. I am in that minority of conservatives who care about animals, and the environment in general.
I don't see them as mutually exclusive.

Rep points for you!

Minority? Nahhhh every conservative I know cares about wildlife the enviroment and stuff. They just don't hug trees, they cut em and make toilet paper and stuff to sell the huggers.

 

[-Kt Atis-]

Well, It's good to see that some of the people here care: Abbey Normal, Dr. Grump (if I had any rep points to give, it would be here).

20 million years of evolution.... snuffed out in the space of 30 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_River_Dolphin]
That is as significant from a human perspective as the extinction of chimps or gorillas (10 million years of seperated evolution from us). Would the rest of you who make jokes about tuna etc. be so humorous then?

I agree. If Chimps went extinct a lot more people would acknowlage this.

 

[Nienna]

Yah... I've never understood why people on the right think it's somehow "liberal" to care about things like the environment and wildlife. I've always thought issues like that should cut across party affiliation.

Goof that you see it the same way.

It's man's job to take care of his environment. Conservative or liberal, it makes no sense to be destructive and careless about one's surroundings.

 

[KarlMarx]

It's man's job to take care of his environment. Conservative or liberal, it makes no sense to be destructive and careless about one's surroundings.

The dolphin's extinction was due in part to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River. However, the dolphin was already in trouble before the dam was even in the planning stages.

It could be argued that the dolphin was the latest victim of China's repression of basic liberties. Had a free exchange of ideas been allowed, more may have been done to save it. However, the Chinese government has an exclusive monopoly on what goes and what doesn't in that country.

Of course, not all is lost. It is possible that cloning may help save this mammal. Someone posted that there are still several females left and some males that are too old to mate. Perhaps the mammal can be saved that way. I've heard of efforts to bring back the Tasmanian Tiger using cloning. The Tasmanian Tiger used to live in Australia and became extinct nearly a century ago .

On the other hand, extinction has been a fact of life long before the arrival of Man. The dinosaurs are the most famous example. But there were other massive extinctions. The Permian extinction, for instance, wiped out most life on our planet, some estimates are as high as 90%.

Where does one draw the line? On the one hand, it is sad that the dolphin went extinct, but on the other hand, millions of people are benefiting from the building of that dam.

On a personal note.... as some are aware, my community was hit with a devastating flood back in June (in fact, Dilloduck was up here helping out). We had another flash flood in November again (we got 4 inches of rain in 3 hours). The federal government declared us a federal disaster area again.

It has been suggested that the Susquehanna River, which flows through our area, be dredged on a regular basis. The river has been slowly been filling up with mud and debris for decades and is now is more shallow than at any time in historical memory.

However, I've heard that there is an endangered salamander that lives in the Susquehanna. Dredging may further endanger it. So what to do?

Do you allow the flooding to occur and victimize hundreds of thousands of people for the benefit of a salamander? Or do you say, too bad so sad, hasta la vista salamanders? Neither seems a very good solution... perhaps there's a happy medium.

 

[Eightball]

The Yangtze River Dolphin is functionally extinct

Chinese Dolphin Deemed "Functionally Extinct"

December 13, 2006 12:05 p.m. EST


Mary K. Brunskill - All Headline News Staff Writer
Beijing, China (AHN) - A conservationist said Wednesday that a Chinese freshwater dolphin that lived in the Yangtze River is effectively extinct. An international team spent 39 days looking for the dolphin and did not find a single one, according to conservationist August Pfluger.

"There is of course a chance that we missed one or two animals, but we didn't see any and we had the best people on board our boat and the best possible technology. The baiji is functionally extinct," Pfluger said, according to AP.

"I am terribly sad. I think it is a tragedy that we weren't fast enough to save the species," he said. "We did not know the baiji was that close to extinction."

The baiji dates back about 20 million years. It's believed that this is the first time in 50 years that a mammal has become extinct.

Pfluger, the Swiss co-leader of the joint Chinese-foreign expedition, said there may still be a few baiji, but not enough to breed and prevent extinction.

The dolphin's declining numbers are probably due to overfishing and shipping traffic because the engines interfere with the sonar the it uses to navigate and feed, he said.​

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7005844811

Another great day for the planet.....

Could that monstrous dam their building on the Yangtze river have had some negative effects? I'm no hyper environmentalist, but I know that some dams have had some negative effects on wild salmon migration/spawning in Northern California. Example, the Mad River dam was blown up/eliminated some years ago East of Arcata, California, as it was silting up too much and it was believed to have lowered the salmon migration-count going up the Mad River.

Yes, I also know that the dolphin isn't a fish, but do they do some migrating on the Yangtze river, and has that new giant dam the Chinese are building possibly interrupting this mammals life cycle?

 

[SpidermanTuba]

Oh no!!!!! Not the baiji!!!!! The world economy will come to an end!!!!!1

What does this have to do with the economy?