It’s possible that you saw a news story about it, but probably not. There was, undoubtedly, some Hollywood starlet going in or out of rehab, or throwing a public tantrum somewhere — a story which the news media decided HAD to be covered because of its profound importance to the future of humanity. Well, the story you missed was that we humans have now managed to drive the first distinct species of whale into extinction. The Yangtze River dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer), also known as the Baiji, has been declared functionally extinct by a group of scientists who searched in vain for the animal during an expedition last fall. The last confirmed sighting of a Baiji dolphin was in the fall of 2004, and the last one in captivity died in 2002. Last fall’s expedition traveled twice up and down nearly the entire known range of the freshwater dolphin, from the Yangtze River delta near Shanghai to the western city of Yichang, in Hubei Province, China.

Not a single Baiji was observed during the six-week search, and while expedition scientists say it’s possible there are a handful of the animals remaining that they might have missed, it’s neither likely, nor likely significant, since that few animals would not be enough to propagate the species. While some sub-species of baleen whales have likely been driven to extinction by humans, the Baiji is the first known distinct whale species to suffer the fate. The Baiji are believed to have separated from Pacific Ocean dolphin populations more than 20 million years ago, establishing themselves as a distinct species in the freshwater of the Yangtze River.

Scientists say the cause of the Baiji’s extinction was primarily related to fishing practices in the Yangtze, where the dolphin died in large numbers as unwanted by-catch. There is enormous human pressure on the Yangtze River catchment area, where nearly 12 percent of the world’s population lives. This pressure also led to pollution in the river, reduction in the dolphin’s normal food sources, and noise pollution underwater from all the boat and ship traffic, which severely hampered the nearly-blind dolphins’ ability to hunt and navigate using sonar.

The Reuters news agency said the Baiji’s demise is the first reported mammalian extinction in the last fifty years. Unfortunately, given the precarious hold on life by such species as the Northern Pacific and Northern Atlantic Right Whales, not to mention the three remaining species of freshwater dolphins left in the world, it is not likely the last. Far too many people believe that issues like global warming, nature conservancy and preservation ecology can wait their turn for attention and resoures. Nero may have fiddled while his city burned, but while we fiddle, living beings are being wiped out of existence. While we take our sweet time, another light in the firmament of life has gone dark.

Copyright © 2007 Thomas M. Tripp

Its name is a good one. It conveys both the net-centric presence of the organization as well as its elegantly woven tapestry of marine issues and analysis. I came across SeaWeb while researching an article on sustainable fisheries and felt like I’d hit the main vein. SeaWeb does what so many other ocean policy and advocacy organization can’t seem to do, which is to keep the emotional rhetoric to a minimum and force the focus on peer-reviewed science — the basis for the best policy development.

What would you like to understand better? The status of fishing stocks in the world’s oceans? It’s there, with reference to the original 2003 publication in Nature. According to that study, most predatory and large ground-stocks have been depleted to less than 10 percent of their pre-industrial era levels. Want to figure out why aquaculture — farm-raising of normally wild ocean species — has both a good and bad side? That’s there, too. Turns out that “farm-raised” doesn’t necessarily mean “raised without harming wild stocks.” That’s because some aquaculture practices expose wild populations to parasites, disease, waste pollution, and food source competition. They also can screw up the natural genetic diversity of wild populations when they escape into the wild. It’s not all bad, however, and SeaWeb has lots of information on all the issues involved.

Nowadays, it’s all too easy to confuse “sound-bite advocacy” with the truth; or at least with the facts. Too many organizations traffic in hysterical language and activism intended seemingly to generate publicity and donations rather than enlightened debate.

Have a look at SeaWeb and start making sure you have the facts, borne from real, hard science and not just the latest sound-bite from those who speak — and think — only in “black or white.”

www.SeaWeb.org

Copyright © 2007 Thomas M. Tripp

As if the sheer joy of eating them wasn’t enough reason to redouble efforts to save our lobster populations, scientists have discovered that a chemical in lobster (and crabs and shrimp) shells may be able to accelerate the healing of human wounds.

This contribution from the bottom-dwelling creatures of inner space will soon be tested in outer space, in the form of experiments to be flown on the next Space Shuttle launch, currently scheduled for an 11-day mission to the International Space Station beginning August 7.

The scientists involved in these experiments are looking at ways to treat injuries on long-duration space missions. Earlier research on astronauts has shown that humans in space suffer a diminished immune system response and consequent slow-healing of wounds and injuries.

Scientists from Harvey Mudd College (HMC) in California and the University of Louisville are collaborating with bioengineering and biomaterials company BioSTAR West. This effort is directed and led by Hawaii Chitopure Inc., a Honolulu based biomaterials company specializing in the U.S. manufacture of ultra-pure chitosan, a polymer developed from the shells of crustaceans, such as lobsters, crabs, and shrimp. The team has developed experiments using chitosan, which has recently gained approval in the U.S. for use in bandages and other hemostatic agents.

HMC Professor of Chemistry Shenda Baker says, “These experiments will study the effects of microgravity on wound repair and the ability of chitosan-based materials to accelerate the wound healing process, reduce infection and ultimately reduce wound scarring.”

For years, scientists have known that there were likely to be huge contributions to human medical knowledge from the study of the ocean’s massively diverse life forms. This contribution by one of the uglier denizens of the deep should spur us to accelerate our understanding of all life in inner space.

Copyright © 2007 Thomas M. Tripp