The Yangtze River finless porpoise investigation team, established by the Nanjing Environmental Science Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, discovered the finless porpoise jumping out of the water when conducting a field investigation recently in the Jingjiang section of the Yangtze River. The Yangtze River finless porpoise is currently the only surviving whale species in the Yangtze River, and plays an important role in reflecting the status of the Yangtze River ecosystem.
The finless porpoise jumped out of the water and appeared in the river waves when the ship sailed into the section from Jiangyin Bridge to Mucheng Park.
"We were quite lucky to see the finless porpoises as soon as we came out, and there were quite a few of them. These finless porpoises were relatively active, some spinning back and forth on the left and right," said Cui Chong, Member of the Yangtze River Finless Porpoise Investigation Team.
In 2021, Jingjiang City teamed up with the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to carry out a biodiversity survey, including a thorough investigation of the population size of the Yangtze River finless porpoise in the Jingjiang section.
Since 2021, the investigation team has witnessed 30 groups of Yangtze River finless porpoises in this section. It is preliminarily inferred that there are two populations of finless porpoises in the Jingjiang section of the Yangtze River, with numbers ranging from 20 to 32.
"One area is from Mucheng Park downstream of the Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge to Luojiagang, which is an important distribution area for finless porpoises. Another area of the finless porpoise is in the Jiagang section upstream of the Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge," said Wang Zhengfei, Leader of the Yangtze River Finless Porpoise Investigation Team and Deputy Dean of the Wetland College of Yancheng Normal University.
Jingjiang has a 52.3-kilometer Yangtze River coastline, with a designated 17.35-kilometer coastline that is not allowed for development. With the deepening of ecological protection and fishing ban in the Yangtze River, there are more and more scenes of finless porpoises playing in the water in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River, including the Jingjiang section.
"The most common sighting we have witnessed is 12 finless porpoises, and during the observation process, we also found mother and child groups, which indicates the emergence of newborn finless porpoises in this area and indirectly proves the important achievements of our Yangtze River conservation efforts," said Wang Zhengfei, Leader of the Yangtze River Finless Porpoise Investigation Team and Deputy Dean of the Wetland College of Yancheng Normal University.
