Today, I want to talk with you about this kind of marine life. There is a famous distant relative, the Yangtze finless porpoise, but it is not known at all. The sea pig, pig fish and river pig are folk names for it. It is also known as the "East Asian finless porpoise", commonly known as the seawater finless porpoise. It is a national endangered second-class wild aquatic protected animal, which is listed as endangered (En) in the IUCN species list, and its number is on the decline. East Asian finless porpoises like to live in shallow coastal waters and the waters where salt and fresh water meet. They are mainly distributed in the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea north of the Taiwan Province Strait, and the northern waters of South Korea and Japan.
When it comes to the East Asian finless porpoise, you can find a lot of information released by Ren Zengying, the "river guardian" on the Internet. From November 23rd, 2012 to now, Ren Zengying paid special attention to the fate of the East Asian finless porpoise for eight years, and she was also sad and helpless for eight years. According to Ren Zengying’s completely unscientific conservative estimation, the number of unexplained deaths of East Asian finless porpoises in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea off the coast of Shandong Province ranges from 500 to 1,000 each year. These figures make her so worried, but there is a deep sense of powerlessness. Ren Zengying even lamented that perhaps the fate of the seawater finless porpoise can attract some people’s attention only if there is a bigger tragic event.
What is more tragic than the report is the reality.
In the interview, Ren Zengying told us that in the media reports, tourists and fishermen occasionally saw the news that the East Asian finless porpoise was stranded and died, but the reality was even more severe. In July 2013, a fishing boat captain told her that they threw away 18 dead East Asian finless porpoises on a trip to sea. On December 24, 2014, a local volunteer contacted her urgently and found four dried East Asian finless porpoises. Not to mention, videos can still be seen on the Internet. In November 2013, the East Asian finless porpoise was stripped with only one dolphin skin near Jinshui Bridge in Yantai. In 2019, as of March 23, Ren Zengying received 31 cases of death of sea water finless porpoises. "Although I have never seen the real East Asian finless porpoise, it is at the second scene or even the N-th scene, whenever fishermen’s friends and volunteers tell me where to find the East Asian finless porpoise, I will contact the local fishery administration department, propaganda department and media for the first time. After a long time, everyone gave me a nickname’ the goddess of dolphin protection’, and everyone used to find that the finless porpoise reported to me first, but the reality was always so gloomy and cruel. "
The dead finless porpoise was skinned by the sea
The sea finless porpoise is also a finless porpoise.
The most embarrassing thing is that many people don’t know or even know that there is an East Asian finless porpoise. Some media have mistakenly published and reprinted the death scene of the "East Asian finless porpoise" in the Bohai Sea as the death news of the "Yangtze finless porpoise", which caused a social sensation. Looking at the horror of the death of the "East Asian finless porpoise" in the report, Ren Zengying was very tearless. Therefore, "the sea finless porpoise is also a finless porpoise" has become Ren Zengying’s propaganda slogan of "eight years is like one day". "What I want to do is to at least let everyone know about the existence of the East Asian finless porpoise, and then pay attention to the East Asian finless porpoise through search, and then there is the possibility of protecting the East Asian finless porpoise. Today, if you search for the East Asian finless porpoise on the Internet, there is no very accurate and scientific research report, which may be the key to the East Asian finless porpoise not being recognized by the public. " In addition to widely publicizing that "the seawater finless porpoise is also a finless porpoise" in the coastal waters, Ren Zengying often popularizes the relevant knowledge of the East Asian finless porpoise for primary and secondary school students on the platform invited by the school to carry out popular science education on coastal wetland protection, and explains the survival dilemma faced by the East Asian finless porpoise.
It’s not delicious and can’t be eaten.
In fact, in addition to natural death, sometimes the East Asian finless porpoise that died near the shore was "accidentally caught" by fishermen. In the process of fishing, once the East Asian finless porpoise crashes into the fishing net, it is difficult to break free, and it will slowly suffocate and die. In the eyes of fishermen, the East Asian finless porpoise is not only a national second-class endangered protected animal, but also really unpalatable and has almost no economic value. Earlier, there was an illegal act of stealing the East Asian finless porpoise and selling it as fish in the market. The price tag was a catty of 5 yuan, but it could not catch up with the price of a catty of clams. Therefore, in the mouth of fishermen, the East Asian finless porpoise will be called "sea pig". Therefore, once the East Asian finless porpoise is caught by mistake, the most common practice may be to throw it directly back into the sea. "This thing is not delicious, and it has no economic value. Our cabin space is limited. Its head is too big, and it weighs more than 200 kilograms. Just throw it into the sea." This is the fisherman’s explanation to Ren Zengying.
Why don’t you know the East Asian finless porpoise?
As a migratory creature, the migration route of the East Asian finless porpoise has not been determined yet, which can be said to be elusive. This has something to do with China’s long coastline. Once investigation and study are carried out, there may be some relations between large input and small output. However, combined with long-term observation and data analysis, Ren Zengying speculated that the area at the junction of the Yellow River estuary and the sea may be the breeding ground of the East Asian finless porpoise. In Shandong Peninsula, the estuaries of the mother river in several coastal cities, twenty years ago, were mostly excellent observation points for East Asian finless porpoises. This is because the East Asian finless porpoise likes to live in shallow coastal waters and the waters where salt and fresh water meet, so the population survival of the East Asian finless porpoise will be regarded as one of the weathervanes of seawater pollution. Now talking about this kind of "sea pig", fishermen sigh a lot, which is hard to see in the river.
However, the public generally lacks understanding of the East Asian finless porpoise, which in itself will have an improper impact on the rescue and rescue of the East Asian finless porpoise. For example, many people don’t know how to rescue the East Asian finless porpoise when it is found, which rescue phone to call, and even don’t know that the East Asian finless porpoise can’t be easily transported to avoid secondary injury. These will be the focus of the public welfare project "East Asian finless porpoise Guardian Program" to promote popular science.
In the interview, Ren Zengying repeated a sentence many times-"The sea water finless porpoise is also a finless porpoise", hoping that all sectors of society can pay attention to the sea water finless porpoise as they pay attention to the "smiling angel" Yangtze finless porpoise, and hope that the sea water finless porpoise can also be treated as a national second-class endangered wild aquatic protected animal, and get due attention and protection from all sectors of society.
East Asian finless porpoise guardian program
We will conduct a population survey of the East Asian finless porpoise in Shandong Peninsula, so as to provide you with more ways to participate in the protection of the East Asian finless porpoise. You can be our "East Asian finless porpoise guardian". No matter what form of East Asian finless porpoise is found in any channel, you can contact us immediately. Tel: 0532-84840708.
We will also invite experts and scholars in the industry to discuss how to observe and protect the East Asian finless porpoise better and more scientifically, and gradually apply the research results to our project of "Protecting the East Asian finless porpoise".
We know that,
When our little bodies,
Lying motionless on the fishing boat deck.
People with heartburn will continue to grieve,
People who are indifferent will continue to be indifferent.
……
Mom and dad often reminisce about the good old days.
Unfortunately, we can’t experience it.
Although we can live in fresh water and sea water,
However, we can’t find the way back to the river to play.
We can’t even see the original coastal zone.
……
—— Excerpt from "Ren Zengying’s Letter Graffiti" on October 15, 2018
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