Yangtze river dolphin rediscovered!

Bittersweet news, given the fact it merely prolongs the inevitable..... :(
 
FunkyGibbon said:
Has anyone found a better news source yet?
Click to expand...

I've certainly not found any other mentions online - which leads to the second point which must be made; that there is every possibility the animal photographed was a Finless Porpoise and not a Baiji.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
I've certainly not found any other mentions online - which leads to the second point which must be made; that there is every possibility the animal photographed was a Finless Porpoise and not a Baiji.
Click to expand...
While it is possible, the animal in the photo appears to a Baiji.
 
@birdsandbats: How can you tell? The picture is definitely too blurry for me to see if it's a porpoise or a dolphin.

If it is indeed a dolphin (which wouldn't surprise me as there have been quite some reports in recent years), it is some very good news. If it's a porpoise, it's still a good news because the Yangtze finless porpoise is endangered and declining, but less so than if it was a dolphin; I guess.
 
While I want this to be true, I am decidedly skeptical on the whole thing. Besides the fact there have been no sightings in over ten years, this decidedly lower quality photo isn't very telling, and the color is also quite unusual. I don't believe its a porpoise, they are a notably different grey color, and also have a VERY low profile when they surface. Yet still, I'm not convinced its a dolphin either, as they were also more of a light grey color, as opposed to pink.

Honestly, I think it might just be a large dead catfish that got carried up to the surface for a second, but that's just me.
 
Zoo Tycooner FR said:
@birdsandbats: How can you tell? The picture is definitely too blurry for me to see if it's a porpoise or a dolphin.
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Yangtze Finless Porpoises don't have much for a snout, as can be seen in these pictures:

dolphin_11.jpg

556607563_1280x720.jpg


Baijis, however, have a long snout:
baiji_dr_henry_genthe.jpg

Baiji9a.jpg


The animal in the photo appears to have a snout.
 
I think that might just be a distortion or something similar, honestly. Might as well be a beak of course. In any case, more research in the area would be interesting.
 
I'd caution everyone to take this with a grain of salt. If it's a dolphin, porpoise or any other cetacean that is very good news. However, the theory presented by @Hyak_II is one that could certainly make sense, as disappointing as it would be. Also considering no one is able to find a single article about what should be very important and exciting news, I can't say that the rather poor image we see above is what we think/hope it is.
 
Maybe the picture is blurry, but the people that saw it knew it was a baiji.... I’m just staying on the hopeful side...
 
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