Baiji: River Dolphin Lost to Progress
China’s Yangtze River once housed these unique freshwater dolphins. The Baiji navigated murky waters using sonar, not sight. Industrialization polluted their habitat while boat propellers cut them down. Dam construction blocked their movement patterns. Chinese fishermen accidentally caught many in their nets. A 2006 expedition found no survivors, declaring this “Goddess of the Yangtze” functionally extinct after millions of years of evolution.