Of the 542 species of animals that are on the endangered species list, 14 are species of dolphins.

This little guy up there is one of them. He's a Yangtze River dolphin. They've become extinct due to human behavior, as far as we know. There's been sightings, or so people say. But scientists are almost for sure that there is no more of this species of dolphin.

All over the world, various species of dolphins have washed up on the beaches dead, or dying. Blood testing of these dolphins show levels of toxins exceeding the guidelines set by the WWF, (World Wildlife Foundation), and the OPA, (Oceanic Protection Association). This horrific situation is not happening somewhere else...it is happening here in the US as well. Since August of 1999, over 40 dead bottlenose dolphins have washed ashore near Panama City in Florida. The reason for these dead dolphins: toxins.

Endangered dolphins are a huge concern in our actual society. Why is it a problem? Well, first of all, if such specie like the dolphin is endangered, it means that if this situation is not dealt with properly, soon we might see their specie disappear from our oceans.

What kind of problem could this create for both their environment and their ecosystem? This would create a huge imbalance in the food chain. No dolphins to eat some creatures then there would be too many. Too many of them means less food for each one and since their food might be marine plants, they will not grow fast enough to feed everyone.

Endangered dolphins need to be well protected by environmental laws such as the laws protecting common dolphins. Three main reasons why dolphins are endangered and all of them are related to humans.

Dolphins get caught in the fishermen's nets which are meant to catch tuna. In this case, they get fatally hurt or they drown as a result of it. Fishing for use in human's cuisine is a big problem, also. As if there isn't enough fish in the sea that aren't endangered that people can feed off of. Why go for an animal such as dolphins? Last but not least, pollution is really killing a lot of animals, especially dolphins. Since humans are polluting rivers, seas and oceans, it affects dolphins. Also, since the dolphin is at the top of the food chain, the chemicals that pollute its habitat create the highest level of concentration of these pollutants in its body. As a result, diseases, difficulty to reproduce or even death take their toll on these species.

Do your part to help save the dolphins!