A group of 20-odd Yangtze finless porpoises were discovered in
Poyang Lake on March 20 by patrolling fishery staff. Poyang Lake,
in Jiangxi Province, stands as China's biggest
freshwater lake. The oddity of this find is due to the fact that
porpoises tend to prefer smaller groups of three to five
members.
Poyang Lake is a major habitat for the Yangtze finless porpoise
and fishing in the lake is currently prohibited. ?
The scarce rainwater leftover from last winter has taken the
water levels in the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake to a dangerous
low.
"This has resulted in a diminished inhabitable area for the
porpoises," said Ding Guangyu, head of Xingzi County's fishery
administration.?"To find enough food, they have migrated
toward the Xingzi section in the north of Poyang Lake where the
water levels remain stable all-year round and where fish resources
are relatively abundant."
According to sources from the Jiangxi fishery authorities, at
least half of the porpoises living in the Yangtze River are
currently living in Poyang Lake.
The porpoise is a kind of small-toothed whale, benefiting from
the state's second-level species protection. Found in the middle
and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Yangtze finless
porpoise is the world's only known freshwater porpoise.
Unfortunately, environmental pollution and the change in aquatic
ecology have caused the Yangtze porpoises' number to drop to under
2,000 at a diminishing rate of 7.3 percent each year, placing it on
the cusp of extinction.
Ding affirmed that his department staff were patrolling the
lake, looking to find more porpoise schools and implement better
conservation measures.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting, March 30, 2007)
