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https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202408/13/WS66baae67a3104e74fddb9a63_1.html>
'In Jiangxi province's Hukou county, the waters of the Yangtze River converge
with the Poyang Lake. Here, a patrol team, led by Shu Yin'an, is witnessing
firsthand the resurgence of the elusive Yangtze finless porpoise.
Shu, 57, born to a family of fishers, has put down his net to take up the
mantle of environmental protection and ecological restoration along Asia's
longest river.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Yangtze finless porpoises were a relatively common
sight, according to Shu. But by the early 2000s, predominantly due to human
activities, their numbers started to dwindle.
"Weeks would pass without a single glimpse of these majestic creatures," he
said. "But it wasn't just the porpoises, all fish populations were decreasing,
leading to empty fishing trips sometimes."
Four years into a fishing ban on the Jiangxi section of the Yangtze River
Basin, which includes Poyang Lake, along with other conservation efforts, Shu
said he's starting to notice a significant increase in fish, as well as the
porpoises.
"The sightings of porpoises have become more frequent, and we can sometimes
spot a mother porpoise and its pup," he said.
The Yangtze finless porpoises are distributed in the middle and lower reaches
of the Yangtze River Basin. That includes Poyang — China's largest freshwater
lake, as well as Dongting Lake and the mainstream of the Yangtze. Classified as
critically endangered and listed as a national first-class protected wild
animal, they are believed to be a vital indicator of the health of the Yangtze
ecosystem due to their sensitivity to environmental changes.'
Via
Fix the News:
https://fixthenews.com/light-into-lightning/
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
