--- description: A species of freshwater dolphin thought to be extinct may have returned to the Yangtze river in Asia, say Chinese conservationists title: Conservationists Say They Spotted 'Extinct' Dolphin in Yangtze River image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9e2846c1ffc1bfe/6988a987cf40a826d1c451e2/white-dolphin.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Conservationists Say They Spotted 'Extinct' Dolphin in Yangtze River by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 11, 2016 4:57 PM CUT  A Chinese white dolphin swims in water off the coast of Hong Kong on March 17, 2012. A Chinese white dolphin swims in water off the coast of Hong Kong on March 17, 2012.Laurent Fievet—Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 11, 2016 4:57 PM CUT A species of freshwater dolphin thought to be extinct may have returned to the Yangtze river in Asia, Chinese conservationists say. An amateur expedition team claims it spotted the baiji—known as the “goddess of the Yangtze” or the white dolphin—in a stretch of the world’s third longest river near the city of Wuhu, even though the creature was declared functionally extinct by researchers a decade ago, [_The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/11/china-extinct-dolphin-returned-yangtze-river-baiji "undefined") reports. “At around 9:20 a.m. on Tuesday, the team of 11 saw what looked like a dolphin in the Yangtze river close to the city of Wuhu, in Anhui province, while on a one-week expedition to look for the animal,” a description on the government-backed news website[ _Sixth Tone_](http://www.sixthtone.com/news/sighting-yangtze-river-dolphin-believed-extinct "undefined") reads. “The dolphin jumped out of the water in easy view of one of the team’s boats, which was around 100 meters away. People on the team’s second boat, which was around 300 meters away, also saw the animal.” This is not the first time a creature thought to be extinct has been rediscovered—sometimes after many years. When this happens, the species becomes a “Lazarus species”—named after the biblical story in which Jesus miraculously raises Lazarus from the dead. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4526704/extinct-dolphin-spotted-yangtze-river/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4526704/extinct-dolphin-spotted-yangtze-river/"},"headline":"Conservationists Say They Spotted 'Extinct' Dolphin in Yangtze River","datePublished":"2016-10-11T16:57:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:16:11.380Z","description":"The creature was declared functionally extinct by researchers a decade ago","url":"https://time.com/4526704/extinct-dolphin-spotted-yangtze-river/","keywords":["animals","China"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9e2846c1ffc1bfe/6988a987cf40a826d1c451e2/white-dolphin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kate Samuelson","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte9e2846c1ffc1bfe/6988a987cf40a826d1c451e2/white-dolphin.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"HONG KONG-CONSERVATION-ENVIRONMENT-ANIMAL-DOLPHIN","caption":"HONG KONG-CONSERVATION-ENVIRONMENT-ANIMAL-DOLPHIN","creditText":"Laurent Fievet—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4526704/extinct-dolphin-spotted-yangtze-river/","name":"Conservationists Say They Spotted 'Extinct' Dolphin in Yangtze River"}}]}] ```