Three great discoveries! Good news of spring finless porpoise scientific research in Dongting Lake

　　On April 15th, Yueyang Dongting Lake finless porpoise protection center announced that in 2024, the spring finless porpoise expedition in Dongting Lake was over, and the researchers found that finless porpoises appeared in many waters, with the range of activities significantly expanded and the number of young porpoises continued to grow. The number of young porpoises also increased compared with previous years.

　　The spring finless porpoise expedition was jointly conducted by Yueyang Dongting Lake finless porpoise protection center, the resource room of Hunan Fisheries Research Institute and the subject group of cetacean conservation biology of Institute of Aquatic Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The expedition team conducted a five-day scientific investigation on the waters of Xiangyin, Chenglingji, Junshan and Yunxi sections of Dongting Lake. The team members investigated the distribution and quantity of the Yangtze finless porpoise by means of visual observation and acoustics, focusing on the relevant habitats of the finless porpoise habitat and activity areas, and simultaneously monitored the aquatic organisms and finless porpoise bait fish, thus providing scientific basis for the subsequent finless porpoise protection work.

　　The researchers found that in addition to the concentrated active areas of finless porpoises such as Sanjiangkou, Bianshan Island and Coal Bay, several finless porpoises were found in the rat tail area in the hinterland of Dongting Lake for the first time, and the number of mother and child porpoises increased significantly compared with previous years. Hu Qiang, director of the Dongting Lake finless porpoise protection center in Yueyang City, said that the Yangtze finless porpoises are mainly distributed in Lulintan, Xinhuagou, Leishi Mountain and Lujiao waters, and Yueyang City is mainly distributed in the waters north of Bianshan to Dongting Bridge. The finless porpoise was also found in the waters where finless porpoises were not observed before, which shows that the water ecology of Dongting Lake continues to be restored and improved.

　　Yueyang Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government attach great importance to the protection of finless porpoises and aquatic wildlife, further compact the responsibilities of local party committees and governments, implement the responsibilities of agriculture, rural areas, transportation, water conservancy, environmental protection, forestry and other departments, improve the joint meeting system, regularly dispatch and promote the protection of finless porpoises in the Yangtze River, and find and solve problems in time. All departments of counties (cities, districts) continue to improve the systems of protection, rescue, popularization of science and publicity of the Yangtze finless porpoise, and implement a 24-hour duty system to carry out normalized patrol supervision to ensure the safety of the finless porpoise.

　　With the implementation of the ten-year ban on fishing, the fish resources in Dongting Lake began to recover, the finless porpoise bait increased, and the Yangtze River passage for finless porpoises was also opened, and the number of finless porpoises increased and the distribution area was wider. At present, finless porpoises have been found in Xiangjiang River, Zijiang River, Yuanshui River, Lishui River and other waters except the Dongting Lake core reserve.