Groups of finless porpoises have been spotted in many places in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River, according to a survey team that finished its survey in the Yangtze River on Monday.
Two scientific research ships from China's Fisheries Administration returned to Nanjing after a week-long survey in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River on Monday afternoon.
In addition to the conventional visual inspection, passive acoustics, an image-assisted observation system, and environmental DNA technology were also employed in this scientific survey.
Zheng Jinsong, Researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Science
Water extraction DMA sampling point is set up every 80 to 100 kilometers. After sampling, the water is filtered through this equipment. The shed cells of the finless porpoise in the water were brought to the laboratory, and the distribution of the finless porpoise in the Yangtze River was determined through DNA analysis.
The Yangtze finless porpoise mostly hunts for food on the head or tail of the Changjiang sandbar, in the waters where rivers and lakes meet, in the waters of the branch rivers or in the coastal waters. There are two foraging peaks in the morning and evening, with more frequent activity in the evening.
On the evenings of September 23 and 24, a scientific expedition ship photographed finless porpoises in the waters near Wushan in the Nantong section of the Yangtze River and the waters near Leigong Island in Yangzhong in the Zhenjiang section of the Yangtze River. A pair of "mother and baby dolphins" were also photographed. The young dolphins should be "newborn babies" sometime between April and May this year.
Jiang Meng, Secretary General of Nanjing Finless Dolphin Protection Association
We have found this situation in several cities along the Yangtze River, indicating that at least many finless porpoise groups in the province have been born this year, which is good news for the protection of the finless porpoise population.
The finless porpoise is a national-level key protected aquatic wild animal and an important indicator species for evaluating the status of the Yangtze River ecosystem.
The 2022 Yangtze finless porpoise scientific survey launched on September 19 is the fourth of its kind that has been conducted on the entire Yangtze River basin since 2006, 2012 and 2017.
Duan Bin, Provincial Office for Fishing Ban in the Yangtze River Basin
During this scientific expedition, there was no obstacle to the speed of the boat. Since the ten-year fishing ban was implemented, all the fishing boats were dismantled and there were no fishing boats and nets on the river, which was very beneficial for the scientific expedition.
