River dolphins are among the most endangered cetaceans on Earth, with several species or subspecies functionally extinct or critically endangered, facing welfare crises from pollution, bycatch, and habitat destruction.
River dolphins face welfare crises that operate simultaneously at individual and population levels. Individual river dolphins caught in fishing nets experience acute drowning — a terrifying and fatal entrapment for air-breathing mammals. Mercury accumulation causes neurological impairment in Amazon botos, affecting their echolocation and navigation in already challenging riverine environments. Electrofishing causes immediate death and depletes the fish populations dolphins depend on. The functional extinction of the baiji and the trajectory of other river dolphin populations means that without urgent action, entire species of sentient, socially complex mammals will be lost — each individual in the remaining populations represents irreplaceable biological and moral value.