Poetry and painting of the Yangtze River: the finless porpoise blows the waves, and the sand birds are idle
Today we will pay attention to the star in the Yangtze River - the finless porpoise. Xue Shiyu, a poet of the late Qing Dynasty, once had "The finless porpoise blows the waves, and the sand birds are idle." Among them, "Blowing Waves" uses anthropomorphic techniques to vividly depict the "stunt" of the finless porpoise spitting water.
The "Smiling Angel" finless porpoise is back
This little guy who spits water to people is the Yangtze finless porpoise, and you can see that it is a "naughty spirit" by looking at its smiling face.
The finless porpoise, also known as the "river pig" because of its fat body, is a national first-class protected animal. They mainly inhabit the waters of the Yangtze River and its tributaries, and often jump up and down the water. As social animals, they use sound as an important means of communication, playing, communicating, and foraging in the water. Fish are at the top of its "menu", such as herring fish, jade tendon fish, eel, sea bass, mackerel, large whitebait, etc., in addition, shrimp and squid are also its favorite "side dishes".
The survival of the finless porpoise is a "barometer" of the quality of the Yangtze River's ecological environment, and in recent decades, due to the deterioration of the ecological environment, the number of the Yangtze finless porpoise has shown a downward trend. With the implementation of the 10-year fishing ban, the fish resources of the Yangtze River began to recover, and the finless porpoise began to eat more food, and the number began to increase. In 2022, the population of the Yangtze finless porpoise reached 1,249, an increase of 237 from the 2017 census, achieving a historic rebound.
A reporter from the main station visited the finless porpoise reserve
Anhui Tongling Freshwater Dolphin National Reserve is a finless porpoise ex-situ conservation base, and now there are 12 finless porpoises here.
The finless porpoise has a good appetite
Feed more than 20 catties of small fish at a time
Reporter Jiang Kai: Every time it's almost time to start the meal, the finless porpoise swims over a few minutes in advance and turns out of the water from time to time, as if urging the meal to start. This bucket of fish is about 25 catties, because the finless porpoise can't eat too big fish, so it feeds small fish under half a catty.
The super cute little finless porpoise is about to turn old
Be in good health
The finless porpoise you see is a little smaller, and this is a new member who was born in April last year. Compared to adult finless porpoises, the little ones look darker. Although it is smaller, it is very healthy and always follows its mother. Now that a few months have passed, the little one has clearly grown up and can leave his mother and forage for food alone. The first year of the baby porpoise is a critical period for its survival, and from the current point of view, this little finless porpoise is very healthy.
In order to prevent the extinction of the finless porpoise, the reserve fished four finless porpoises from the main stream of the Yangtze River and moved here for species protection.
The main stream of the Yangtze River
Frequent pods of wild finless porpoises
Nowadays, not only here, but also on the main road of the Yangtze River next to it, the finless porpoise, which was rarely seen, has also begun to increase after the Yangtze River fishing ban, and they can often be seen walking along the river.
Stock live fish
Train finless porpoises to forage in the wild
In addition to feeding the forage fish, the conservation base will release some live fish into the waters where these finless porpoises live from time to time, so that they can train their foraging ability in the wild. After a 10-year fishing ban, we have not only seen changes in the finless porpoise, but also other fish species.
My beautiful "encounter" with the finless porpoise
After the 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River was fully launched in 2021, fish resources in the Yangtze River began to recover, finless porpoises had more food, and the population began to rebound steadily. Finless porpoises in the wild are also frequently seen.
Hunan: A photographer's search for a dolphin
The reporter followed Yi Hui, a photography enthusiast, to the section from Linzikou to Xinquan Gate in Xiangyin, Xiangjiang, which was the place where she photographed the finless porpoise for the first time in February this year.
Yi Hui, Hunan Xiangyin photography enthusiast: I was walking by the river at the time, and I saw it, because I usually walk with equipment. I saw that the water was not very calm, and I flew directly over there with a drone, and I found that there were a lot of porpoises, and I couldn't shoot them at all.
In the past, finless porpoises were usually only found in the core area of Dongting Lake, where they were rarely seen. In the past two days, it has often rained in Hunan, and in this kind of weather, it is uncertain whether the finless porpoise will still play here. Just as Yi Hui told reporters about her wonderful experience of photographing finless porpoises at that time, a surprise appeared.
In the picture, they are either in groups or on their own. Some jumped out of the water and spun in circles, while others sank into the water, which was particularly naughty and smart.
Source: CCTV news client