Heartbreaking news.

Another extinction for our planet was announced today.  This was a biggy.  Not a bug or a small fish but a mammal.  Each extinction will have grave consequences on many different levels.  Each inhabitant of Earth is interrelated; extinction affects each of us.  Maybe it won't affect us today but it will at some point in our not so distant future.

What is so heartbreaking about the Yangtze River Dolphin being gone is that Dolphins are so closely related to us.  Aside from being extremely intelligent, Dolphins have communication systems that are highly evolved.

This particular Dolphin was referred to as a "living fossil:"

The baiji was described as a ‘living fossil’, remaining as it had, unchanged for at least 3 million years since it first left the sea to swim into the Yangtze River.

It is forever gone.  After 3 million years of doing no harm and existing as it did we have exterminated it.  Not just the Chinese, but all of us bare responsibility for the demise of this amazing mammal.

What's next?  The corral reefs in the Pacific and the Polar Bears.

Truly heartbreaking news.

Comments

[M.]

Truly tragic. Just recently I took the time to watch an extraordinary documentary produced by the BBC called "Planet Earth" (available in Amazon). 10 hours of stunning beauty and terrible drama, a reflection of the fragile moment we are living and some of the results of mismanaging our planet.

There's plenty to be done to reverse the situation. This week I read something where we can all act on a small scale: plastic bags.

The article in Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/08/10/plastic_bags/index_np.html

[Jeannette]

Thanks for the link to the Salon article. We often overlook the simple solutions. Eliminating plastic bags from our every day lives would make such a difference. Funny you mention the BBC documentary. I almost bought it yesterday.

[Lola Jones]

Truly sad. This is the consquenses not only of the chinese people but through global warming as well