Aquatic Mammals Blog

It's all about marine mammals to those who wish to explore all aspects of marine mammal's ecology, behavior and acoustics. When I first started writing Aquatic Mammals Blog, one of the main aims to provide a basic guide of how to identify species and their lifestyle according to my research knowledge and field studies.

Chinese White Dolphin | Cetacean Sighting in Greater Bay Area

 

Mother and calf pair
Mother and calf pair

In the morning 10 th of July 2019, a fisherman saw a white dolphin in the Daya bay near Bijia Power Plant, Huizhou. White dolphins are accustomed to group life, but there is only one white dolphin at the scene. It swims freely and maybe it is in good physical condition.

 

The populations of Chinese white dolphins are generally distributed in the waters from the Pearl River estuary in Shenzhen to Lantau Island in Hong Kong, and there are populations in the waters of Jiangmen. These waters are relatively affected by the Pearl River freshwater. After the Pearl River freshwater enters the South China Sea, it is affected by the deflection of the earth and the runoff direction deviating from the west, from Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Jiangmen, the waters at the junction of brackish and freshwaters are characterized by low salinity and low permeability. White dolphin populations seem to be accustomed to activities in such waters.

 

Daya Bay is located on the east side of Shenzhen. Hong Kong Island and Dahao Island play a specific role in blocking the water of the Pearl River. This area is greatly affected by the South China Sea currents. The high salinity ocean water affects the sea area all year round. In the data I have consulted, there are records of finless porpoise population activity in this area, but there is no record of white dolphin activity.

Witnessing video-: Source: Fisherman's mobile phone

 

Witnessing map


Chinese White Dolphin: IUCN Red List Protection Level NT (Near Threatened)



Chinese White Dolphin (scientific name: Sousa Chinensis), also known as Pacific Humpback Dolphin or Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin, commonly known as Mazu fish in Taiwan which belongs to the cetacean dolphin’s family, the length is from one meter to three meters in range. Mainly live in tropical and temperate coastal waters, such as central and northern Australia, southern China, Indonesia, and other western Pacific waters, but also rivers, brackish water, and marshes, such as the Yangtze River, Min River, Jiulong River, Pearl River Estuary, Han River, and Pearl River. Their distribution is extensive. The earliest record of Chinese white dolphins in Western literature was discovered by explorer Peter Mundy at the Pearl River Estuary in 1637, while the earliest record in China was in the Tang Dynasty. The newly born Chinese white dolphins are white, the young ones are gray, and the adults are pink.

Related stories :


More readings :

https://aquaticmammal.blogspot.com/2020/08/dolphin-was-stranded-and-injured-in.html

https://aquaticmammal.blogspot.com/2020/04/whale-falling.html

Reference :

Previous
Next Post »