Hubei Daily News (Reporter Wen Jun, correspondent Deng Xiaojun, Liu Jingtuo) On May 22nd, the launching ceremony of the third "National Love Dolphin Month" and the "Digital Dolphin" exhibition kicked off in Wuhan. Mei Zhigang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced at the meeting that two Yangtze finless porpoises released in the wild for the first time in China have probably been integrated into the natural population of Yangtze finless porpoises. The results of "Great Protection of the Yangtze River" and "Ten-year Fishing Ban" have enabled the finless porpoise to be successfully released into the Yangtze River in the wild, which is conducive to promoting the natural population of the Yangtze finless porpoise to rebound.
On April 25th, four Yangtze finless porpoises bred from ex-situ conservation areas were released into the Yangtze River in the national nature reserve of the Yangtze River in Xinluo section of Hubei Province and the national nature reserve of the Yangtze River in Swan Island of Hubei Province. This is the first time that China has carried out ex-situ conservation of Yangtze finless porpoises. Among the four finless porpoises, two 5-year-old male finless porpoises have received adaptive training for two years before, and have basically adapted to the living environment in the natural waters of the Yangtze River, and have been directly released to the Xinluo section of the main stream of the Yangtze River. The other two finless porpoises, a 13-year-old male finless porpoise and a 5-year-old female finless porpoise, need to undergo a period of wild training in the purse seine before guiding them back to the natural waters of the Yangtze River.
The researchers put "small vests" on the two released Yangtze finless porpoises, which are equipped with radio positioning and tracking systems, and acoustic positioning base stations placed in the water, which can monitor the position, predation and integration of finless porpoises in real time. On April 28th, through the "small vest" worn by the Yangtze finless porpoise, it was found that two wild released Yangtze finless porpoises and one wild Yangtze finless porpoise lived together to form a "3-dolphin group". On May 1, the "small vest" fell off, and two Yangtze finless porpoises went downstream. The scientific researchers found several large finless porpoises in the waters of Jiayu Bridge and Xintan section for 20 kilometers.
"The finless porpoises are all implanted with chips, just like their ID cards, which will accompany them for life." Mei Zhigang said that through more than 20 days of continuous monitoring, no single Yangtze finless porpoise was found in this water area where the Yangtze finless porpoise was active, and no dead Yangtze finless porpoise was found. Therefore, it can be judged that the two Yangtze finless porpoises released from the wild have probably been integrated into the natural population of Yangtze finless porpoises. Next, the team will expand the scope and intensity of scientific research, continue to monitor the safety and adaptability of finless porpoises, and accordingly carry out research on wild release, form technical specifications for wild release of Yangtze finless porpoises, and accumulate experience for standardized and normalized wild release in the future.
The Yangtze finless porpoise is a unique flagship species in the Yangtze River basin, and it is also a "barometer" of the health status of the Yangtze River. In 1992, the State Council approved the establishment of the first domestic ex-situ conservation area for cetaceans in the old course of the Yangtze River in Swan Island, Shishou, Hubei. For more than 30 years, China has actively promoted the ex-situ conservation of Yangtze finless porpoise. At present, there are about 160 ex-situ populations, and about 15 are born every year.
At the meeting, I finless porpoise-"Digital Finless Porpoise" online protection center was officially launched. The person in charge of Wuhan Cloud said that under the guidance of government departments, the basic information platform of "digital finless porpoise" with I finless porpoise program as the core will be continuously improved, and the role of technical co-ordination will be brought into play to realize data and information sharing, and digital technology will be comprehensively promoted to empower the Yangtze finless porpoise protection and ecological civilization construction.
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