DOES the Yangtze River still have baiji, the graceful, grey dolphin with tiny eyes and a long narrow beak?

 

　　那种长着小眼睛和尖长嘴、姿态优雅的灰色海豚--白暨豚，在长江里还有吗？

 

　　Since November 6, a team of scientists from China, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Japan have been searching for any sign of the freshwater dolphin on the middle and lower sections of the river. After six weeks, they came back empty-handed.

 

　　从11月6日起，由中、英、美、德、日人员组成的一只科考队开始在长江中下游搜寻这种淡水海豚的身影。六个星期过后，他们两手空空打道回府。

 

　　Wang Ding, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who is the head of the team, said he has seen a sharp decline in the baiji population over the past few decades. However, he is still unwilling to call the species extinct, and adds, "We will try every effort to save them as long as they are not found to be extinct."

 

　　中国科学院的王丁是这只科考队的队长，他说在过去几十年中他眼见着白暨豚数量急剧减少。但他仍不想就此认为白暨豚已经灭绝，并说："只要白暨豚没有灭绝，我们就会尽一切努力拯救它们。"

 

　　The baiji is shy and nearly blind and is one of the world's oldest dolphin species. It dates back some 20 million years and is found only in the Yangtze. It's listed as one of the 12 most endangered animal species in the world.

 

　　白暨豚生性害羞，视力几乎为零，是世界上最古老的豚类之一。它有2000万年的历史，只存在于长江之中，被列为全世界12种最濒危物种之一。

 

　　Around 400 baiji were believed to be living in the Yangtze until the 1980s. A 1997 survey spotted 13. Two years later their numbers were down to two.

 

　　据说在20世纪80年代，长江中大约有400只白暨豚。一份1997年的调查指出当年白暨豚数量下降到13只。两年后，白暨豚的数量锐减为两只。

 

　　The rapid disappearance of this dolphin over the past two decades coincided with the rapid expansion of economic development along the river. Research on some dead baiji collected in recent years showed that more than 90 per cent of the deaths were caused by human activities.

 

　　过去二十年间白暨豚迅速消失，同一时期，长江沿岸经济快速发展。通过对近年死去的白暨豚进行研究，结果表明，在死去的白暨豚中，有90％是由于人类活动而造成。

 

　　One reason is that over-fishing has cut the dolphin's food sources. Dams built along the river and neighbouring waterways have also kept them from swimming into and out of their habitats. Meanwhile, waste discharge has seriously polluted the river. And heavy river traffic has greatly reduced their living space.

 

　　其中有个原因就是过度捕鱼断绝了白暨豚的食物来源。在长江边以及附近的水域中还修筑起了很多水坝，这迫使白暨豚不停地更换它们的栖息之地。同时，垃圾排放也严重污染了水源。繁忙的长江交通使它们的生活空间大为减少。

 

　　The disappearance of the baiji would be the first instance of a large aquatic mammal being driven to extinction since hunting killed off the monk seal around 1952.

 

　　自1952年左右僧海豹由于人类狩猎而惨遭灭绝以来，白暨豚的消失是大型水生哺乳动物被赶尽杀绝的第一例。