1 document
# 141
Sightings
Xinyue Liu
A photograph of a Yangtze River dolphin, commonly known as the baiji, was printed in one of my textbooks when I was a pupil in Dalian, China. I remember staring at a small white back submerged in a tideless pool. It was 2007, and our teacher informed us that the animal we were looking at was near extinction. The last known baiji had died in captivity five years prior. When I saw the photograph, I did not realize I was looking at a ghost—not just of an individual animal, but of an entire species.
e-flux Journal
Posted: December 12, 2023
Category
Nature & Ecology, Photography
Subjects
Ghosts & Spirits, Extinction, China