Jimu News Reporter Hu Dikai
Photography Jimu News Reporter Liu Zhongcan
On October 25, the 4th Yangtze River Porpoise Protection Day and the 3rd Poyang Lake Yangtze River Porpoise Protection Forum were held in Yongxiu, Jiangxi. At the event site, the relevant person in charge of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs announced the preliminary results of the 2022 Yangtze River Porpoise scientific expedition.
Jimu News reporter learned on the spot that the preliminary observations of the Yangtze River Porpoise scientific investigation in 2022 showed that the natural population of Yangtze River Porpoise has recovered compared with 1,012 in 2017, and the number of mother and child porpoises has increased significantly. Yangtze River Porpoises have also been found in some past distribution blank areas such as the Wuhan section.
In the future, Red Populus population may have a large recovery
The Fourth Yangtze River Dolphin Protection Day and the Third Poyang Lake Yangtze River Dolphin Protection Forum will be held in Yongxiu, Jiangxi on October 25. The theme of this event is "Build a Populus Porpoise Paradise together to help Yangtze River green development."
event site (Photo source: Jimu News reporter)
event site, Ma Yi, director of the Fisheries Administration Supervision and Administration Office of the Yangtze River Basin of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, introduced that according to the preliminary observation results of the scientific investigation of Yangtze River porpoises in 2022 organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the natural population of Yangtze River porpoises has recovered compared with 1,012 in 2017. The number of Yangtze River porpoises has increased significantly in the lower reaches of Gezhouba in Yichang, Daijiazhou in Huangshi, Hukou in Jiangxi and Jiangsu, and some river sections in Jiangsu have also been found in some past distribution blank areas such as Wuhan. In addition, the number of mother and child pigs was found to have also increased significantly, indicating that the population may recover significantly in the future.
2022 Yangtze River Porpoise Scientific Survey was officially launched on September 19. This is the fourth scientific investigation of the entire Yangtze River basin of the Yangtze River after 2006, 2012 and 2017. It is also the first systematic investigation of basin species after the implementation of the Yangtze River's comprehensive fishing ban and the promulgation and implementation of the " Yangtze River Protection Law ".
The scientific expedition teams of four sections of the main stream of the Yangtze River set sail simultaneously. Jimu News reporters followed the Yichang to Chenglingji section inspection team for the full report. The reporter and the scientific expedition team observed two large groups of porpoises at the bottom of Gezhouba in Yichang and at the mouth of Dongting Lake in Chenglingji, including several small porpoises. In the Anhui River Section, the scientific expedition team members have also observed valuable scenes of the Yangtze River Porpoise mother and son traveling together and the Yangtze River Porpoise cluster activities in the Wuhu , Tongling , Anqing and other river sections.
22 Yangtze River Porpoise Science Experiment (Photo source: Jimu News reporter)
reporter learned that the official results of the Yangtze River Porpoise Science Experiment in 2022 will be announced uniformly after the data statistics are completed. In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will work with the People's Government of the Yangtze River Province (City) to deeply analyze the problems and difficulties faced in the protection of Yangtze River porpoises, systematically plan the goals, tasks, implementation paths and specific measures for the protection of Yangtze River porpoises, and fully implement the "Yangtze River Biodiversity Conservation Project Construction Plan (2021-2025)" to actively create a good atmosphere for the protection of Yangtze River porpoises.
Gezhouba Suspected pregnant finless porpoise has been newly discovered
Yangtze River finless porpoise is the only cetacean animal in the Yangtze River. It is a national first-class key protected wild animal. It is an important indicator species for testing the effectiveness of the Yangtze River protection and the health of the Yangtze River ecosystem. It is called the "Smiling Angel".
There has always been a relatively fixed group of porpoises in the waters downstream of Gezhouba, Yichang, Hubei Province. During the Yangtze River Porpoise Science Experiment in September this year, the reporter and the scientific expedition team observed more than a dozen porpoises jumping out of the river, including at least two small porpoises. The picture was very shocking.
mother and son dolphins under Gezhouba (Photo source: correspondent Yang He)
On October 26, Yang He, a photography enthusiast who often photographs the figures of finless porpoises on the banks of Gezhouba, was very happy to hear the preliminary results of the scientific experiment of the finless porpoises that showed that the number of finless porpoises had recovered.He told reporters that this year, photography enthusiasts took pictures of the small finless porpoises downstream of Gezhouba twice, and in July he also took pictures of the newly born small finless porpoise. "Some time ago, we also discovered the suspected pregnant finless porpoise we photographed under Gezhouba. The tail logo shows that this finless porpoise was in this water before."
reporter learned that when Yang He and other photography enthusiasts discovered this suspected pregnant finless porpoise last week, the photos taken showed that the finless porpoise had obviously bulging belly, smooth skin, and a length of 80 to 90 cm. After jumping high, a splash of water splashed, and no other characteristics were found on the body.
Yang He said: "On October 24, I took pictures of this finless porpoise again, and its belly was still very bulging. But the shooting angle this time was different. I and other photography enthusiasts observed the photos and found that there was a wound on the right side of the tail of this finless porpoise. Through this logo comparison, we found that this finless porpoise had lived in this water before, and we photography enthusiasts had taken it."
101. Suspected photos taken on October 24 Pregnant finless porpoise (Photo source: Correspondent Yang He)
finless porpoise's tail wound "mark" (Photo source: Correspondent Yang He)
Previously, Hao Yujiang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Aquatics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters that it is impossible to judge whether the finless porpoise is pregnant from the current photos alone. The bulging belly may be due to pregnancy, or it may be because it has not digested after eating enough, so further observation and confirmation is required.
Yang He said that the emergence of small porpoises means that this porpoise population is growing again. He will strengthen his observation and take more photos to help scientific researchers judge the real situation of the finless porpoise. "I hope this porpoise is indeed pregnant, so that I can take pictures of the precious images of the birth of the porpoise."
