Making the 'Smiling Angels' smile again

The number of finless porpoise, a protected species residing in the Yangtze River, has seen growth compared with the 1,012 that were seen in 2017. A preliminary survey carried out on Oct 25 said more mother-child pairs were seen and some were seen in places that had never reported them earlier.

Finless porpoise, also called Smiling Angels, have become a natural indicator of the health of the Yangtze River ecosystem, especially after the Lipotes vexillifer, a species of the freshwater dolphin commonly known as Baiji, became extinct in 2007. Despite efforts to protect the finless porpoise for over 40 years, its numbers continued to fall. Finally, there is some good news.

The turnaround would not have been possible without the three earlier scientific probes and the ongoing one. Add to that a 10-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River implemented on Jan 1 last year, followed by the finless porpoise being upgraded to a level 1 protected species on the national list on Feb 5, 2021, and the Yangtze River Protection Law coming into effect on March 1, 2021.

Because of these measures, the provincial-level regions along the Yangtze River relocated their chemical plants, closed down illegal docklands, mended wetlands and rationalized sailing lanes. All these efforts ultimately improved the river's ecological environment, helping breathe life into the finless porpoise species.

The results show that China has chosen the right path in protecting not only the finless porpoise, but also the river's ecosystem.

The story of the revival of the finless porpoise is only part of the bigger story of the Yangtze River's protection as a whole. And protecting the river is part of the larger picture of the country's ecological civilization.

Fixing the Yangtze River's ecology can benefit hundreds of generations, and a good ecology is a fortune of the Chinese nation as a whole.