Baiji River Dolphin May or May Not Be Extinct

ozmanjusri writes "Major news outlets are reporting that after 20 million years, Baiji (Yangtze River Dolphin) are now officially extinct. This is apparently actually old news; it was announced on a Baiji conservation website in December of last year. One outlet, though, is claiming they may not quite be completely dead yet. The same scientist that filed the report leading the the declaration of extinction is still hopeful: '"This is only one survey and...you can't have a sample in a survey, so you cannot say the baiji all is gone by the result of only one survey," he said. "For example, there is some side channels or some tributaries [where] we cannot go because of a restriction of navigation rules, and also we don't survey during the night-time so we may miss some animals in the Yangtze River." Professor Ding says based on anecdotal evidence, he remains confident the dolphins are still out there. "I'm pretty much sure there are a few of them left somewhere in the Yangtze River," he said. "I keep receiving reports from fishermen, they say they saw a couple of baiji somewhere, sometime."'"

A tautology!

[Hikaru79]

After the commercials, "Human Beings May or May Not Be Extinct"!

Re:You Idiots

[j00r0m4nc3r]

You couldn't fool your mother on the foolingest day of your life with an electrified fooling machine!

They're dead.

[akkarin]

Or maybe not. But probably. Not. On the other hand... of course, if you.. no, no, they're dead. I think. -The Thinker

I thought it was a cat?

[HermDog]

Well, who's going to open the box and find out if the dolphins are dead or if they're cats?

May or May not?

[sykopomp]

Schroedinger would be proud and Einstein would piss his pants!!!... I daresay

Re:They're not dead

[taoman1]

No, they're pining for the fjords.

Re:I need advice

[ResidntGeek]

Or maybe you spelled "Niel" wrong.

Thanks for telling me

[MarsDefenseMinister]

I guess I'd better save the one I have in my freezer for a really special dinner, because I won't have to get another one. And the dolphin they're putting in those little cans is often adulterated with tuna, which spoils it in my opinion.

Re:i read somewhere

[edwardpickman]

You're forgetting the most important point, how did they taste in sushi? Several million Japanese are dying to find out. See, there are good reasons for cloning.

"Mostly Extinct"

[Anonymous Coward]

Is that anything like "kind of pregnant"?