NATS 3200 Lecture 20: Lecture 20 Yangtze River Dolphin and Aral Sea
27 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
Interrupts exchange of species between the huge body of water: nobody really knows what will happen and the consequences are probably not uniformly negative. Yangtze river dolphin (lipotes vexillifer: the dam also had a negative effect on the dolphin, one of the least known dolphins. Main threats to its survival: depletion of its fish prey by overfishing, blockage of its migratory routes by dams, collisions with boats, pollution of river by chemicals and waste. Illegally hunted for meat and body parts (traditional medicine) The decline of the yangtze river dolphin: early 1980s: ~400 dolphins lived in the yangtze river, 1997: only ~13 dolphins were seen, 2006: no dolphins were found, minimum viable dolphin population = 20-25 individuals. Other endangered river dolphins: ganges river dolphin, river is heavily polluted, one of most heavily endangered, amazon (pink) river dolphin, not as heavily industrialized around the river, still vulnerable species.
