I'm sure that Bush and Rove will get the blame for this any minute now.

For some 20 million years, the baiji, also called the white-flag dolphin, frequented the Yangtze’s sandy shallows, using sonar to catch fish in the silty flow.

In the last few decades, the dolphin’s numbers plunged as rapidly as the Chinese economy surged. The Yangtze’s sandy shallows, which the baiji frequented, have largely been dredged for shipping.

The baiji sought fish that have been netted or driven from the river by pollution. And its sonar may have been disrupted by the propeller noise from boats above. A 1997 survey counted 13 baiji in the river. None of the dolphins survive in captivity.

I wonder if they saved a lot of DNA samples? If so, we may be able to get them back as technology continues to advance.

In fact, if there isn't already such a thing, someone should establish a DNA bank for endangered species, as a backstop. As with cryonics, we at least should be preventing information death.

[Noon update]

Well, there's at least one.

Surely the ChiComs can't be responsible for any harm to the world's environment or wildlife. After all, they are not us, or should I spell that U.S.

[sarcasm]
I have to agree with Steve. Everyone knows only decadent capitalist countries destroy the environment, unlike enlightened socialist and communist countries where the skies are full of pretty birds, the lakes are filled with vegan fish and the forests are packed with deer and cuddly little bunnies.

[/sarcasm]

If only Bush had accepted Kyoto instead of a $200 tax cut.

I blame Jimmy Carter.