A Yangtze dolphin was found dead in the Xianning, in the Hubei section of the Yangtze on 29 November. About 3.09 metres long and weighing 200 kg, the mammal was estimated to be 20 years old. It was discovered by a crew member of a passing vessel who alerted the local maritime safety authorities. A senior official from the National Nature Reserve in Hubei confirmed that it was a female Yangtze dolphin. Investigations are now being carried out to ascertain the cause of death.

The white-flag dolphin, unique to the Yangtze, is listed as one of the 12 most endangered species in the world. Indeed, it is regarded as functionally extinct. As a result of increased ship traffic, over-fishing and the degradation of its habitat, the Yangtze dolphin population fell to fewer than 150 in the early 1990s from about 400 a decade previously.