Baiji: Lipotidae

The baiji is a freshwater river dolphin that lives in the Yangtze (yang-see) River in eastern China. It has a long, narrow beak (snout), which curves slightly upward and grows longer with age. It has a steeply sloped forehead and tiny eyes that are set high on the sides of the head. These eyes are only slightly functional and leave the dolphin almost completely blind. This is why baijis use echolocation (eck-oh-loh-KAY-shun) to navigate and find food. Baijis have about 130 teeth, which are all alike in size and shape. The cone-shaped teeth are made for catching fish, not chewing.

The baiji has short, round flippers and a low, triangular shaped dorsal (back) fin. It has a very distinctive notch in the middle of its fluke, or tail. The body is a bluish gray, fading into white on its stomach. The average length for a baiji is between 6.5 and 8 feet (2 and 2.4 meters). Females grow to be larger than males. They weigh between 220 and 355 pounds (100 and 160 kilograms).