Extinct white dolphin may still be alive

A white dolphin native to China’s Yangtze River that scientists had declared extinct last year has possibly been spotted swimming in the wild, offering a small shred of hope for its revival, a researcher said Wednesday.

Wang Ding, a researcher with the Institute of Hydrobiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said a man saw and shot a video of what appeared to be a baiji, or white flag dolphin, in central China’s Anhui province Aug. 19. Wang said the animal in the video looked and acted like a baiji and was seen about 25 miles downstream from Anhui’s Tongling city -- a section of the river that used to be known as a hot spot for white flag dolphins.