Marine biology is getting a boost after the discovery of the world’s most endangered cetacean in China. It was only a few months ago that the Yangtze river dolphin, or baiji, was declared extinct.

Now, a sighting of the rare species in China’s largest river, it’s sole habitat, has launched a campaign to save them. Also called the whitefin dolphin, the baijis are said to have flourished in the Yangtze for millions of years.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the Chinese media reported that a local businessman in Tongling City in east China’s Anhui Province filmed “a big white animal” with his digital camera on August 19. The footage was later confirmed to be the Baiji by Prof. Wang Ding, a leading scientist in Baiji study at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The critically endangered Yangtze river dolphin, or baiji, once lived in China’s lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Fuchun River, and in Dongting and Poyang Lakes. Today, it is the world’s most endangered cetacean.
© Chinese Academy of Science

“This sighting presents a last hope that the Baiji may not go the way of the dodo bird,” said Karen Baragona, Yangtze River Basin Program leader at World Wildlife Fund. “Other species have been brought back from the brink of extinction like the southern right whale and white rhinos, but only through the most intensive conservation efforts.”

WWF has been actively involved in the protection of cetaceans and their habitat in the Yangtze River. “WWF calls for immediate joint efforts to provide a living space for this beautiful animal, which is a key species indicating the health of its habitat – the Yangtze River. To be effective, efforts must address agriculture, water resources, transportation, environmental protection and sanitation to reduce human disturbance and protect the cetaceans in the river,” Baragona said.