Dolphins & Why They Are Going Extinct

Some species of dolphins are on the path to extinction. These include the Chinese white dolphin and dolphins of the Amazon River. if steps are not taken to reduce their rate of destruction. Because there are many varieties of dolphins, spread so far across the world, there are many reasons they can go extinct, such as people killing them for food and their habitats becoming unlivable. The common thread, though, is dolphin/human interaction.

  1. Captivity and Tourism

    • Dolphin tourism is a popular way for companies to make money. One example is programs that let people swim with dolphins, another is catching dolphins in the wild and keeping them in tanks where they perform for crowds.

      Both of these are harmful for dolphins and contribute to their endangered status. Dolphin tourism changes the nature of the areas where dolphins eat and breed, which makes each generation produce fewer offspring. The process of catching dolphins often kills them, and even if it doesn't, they do not have very long lifespans in captivity because of disease in dolphin tanks. So these businesses catch more dolphins to replace the ones that died, thus reducing the total dolphin population.

    Dams and River Dolphins

    • River dolphins are among the most-threatened species of dolphin. This is because rivers are commonly dammed, irrigated and otherwise tampered with to develop human resources. This destroys river dolphins' natural habitat, thus giving them less access to food and causing fewer dolphins to reproduce. The Yangtze River dolphin, for example, is thought to be extinct as of 2007 because of development and overfishing in China.

    Fishing Nets

    • Commercial fishing is often done in areas where dolphins live. Fishing nets cannot distinguish between fish and dolphins, and dolphins often become caught in them. Since trapped underwater cannot come up for air, and they drown.

    Hunting

    • Some species of dolphin are hunted. In Japan, for example, bottlenose dolphins are still hunted for their meat in spite of global opinion against this practice. And in Pakistan, Indus River dolphins are often hunted for the oil their bodies secrete. This has reduced their numbers to 600, putting this species on the verge of extinction.