Oil sands' toxins accumulate in freshwater ecosystems

 

Toxic pollutants released by oil

Fight to save endangered Indian dolphin 

 
The dolphins grow to about 2.5m in length
 

The Ganges River Dolphin is one of the world's most endangered freshwater mammals.

Its numbers in South Asia have plummeted in recent decades. But Indian conservationists working on the Brahmaputra River hope to reverse the dolphin's decline by mobilising riverside communities to protect these amazing cetaceans. "We named one dolphin Rosie. I think Rosie is arriving here," said conservationist biologist Abdul Wakid, pointing to rippled brown water where Rosie had just surfaced, "She's really big." You have to be quick to see a Ganges River Dolphin. The sliver of back and tiny dorsal fin slipped beneath the surface within a second. At about 2.5m, Rosie is about as long as this species of freshwater dolphin grows. Despite her name, she's black in colour - distinct from the Pink River Dolphin of the Amazon River system. There used to be a blue-grey freshwater cetacean in China not so long ago - the Yangtze River Dolphin or Baiji. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared that species to be functionally extinct in 2007. Decades of hunting, harmful fishing practices, increasing boat traffic, pollution and dam building pushed the Baji to evolutionary oblivion.