Xiamen locals spot Chinese white dolphins more frequently off coast thanks to efforts to protect the species

Photo shows Chinese white dolphins in the Xiamen bay, east China’s Fujian province. (Photo provided by the Third Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources to Xinhua)

“There are 60 to 70 Chinese white dolphins in the Xiamen bay of east China’s Fujian Province. It is not uncommon for people to see the animal from the shore now,” said Wang Xianyan, a researcher with the Third Institute of Oceanography under the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Wang has been engaged in the protection and research of the species, which is under national first-class protection in China. It is because of the decades of efforts by people like Wang that Chinese white dolphins have seen their numbers increase and become more frequently seen by locals along the bay in Xiamen city, Fujian.

In 1997, Xiamen built a provincial-level nature reserve for Chinese white dolphins, and then upgraded it into the Xiamen State-Level Marine Nature Reserve for Rare Marine Species with the approval of China’s State Council in 2000, according to Cai Libo, director of the center for affairs related to the Xiamen Chinese white dolphin and amphioxus nature reserve.

The upgraded nature reserve covers a total area of 7,588 hectares, of which 5,500 hectares are for the protection of Chinese white dolphins, Cai added.

Meanwhile, Xiamen has taken effective measures to protect the habitat of Chinese white dolphins. It has limited the top speed of ships to less than 10 knots and reduced the maximum amount of marine explosives to less than 138 kilograms at the Xiamen bay, while attempting to reduce the impact of human-related production activities on Chinese white dolphins through measures such as the prohibition of fishing, in addition to expanding the scope of activity for the species via ecological-environmental restoration efforts.

The nature reserve has also endeavored to involve more people in the conservation of Chinese white dolphins by composing a song, making a short film and setting up a troupe themed on the animal, Cai pointed out.

Local companies have also taken action to protect Chinese white dolphins. “Normally, companies build piers in the sea for the construction of cross-sea bridges, which greatly affects the marine environment. We built the piers for the Xiang’an Bridge, the second eastern passage linking the island of Xiamen to the mainland, on the shore, and then used a crane to place them into the sea, which was able to reduce the length of construction time in the sea and reduce the amount of noise produced during the project, thus minimizing the effects of bridge construction on the Chinese white dolphins,” said an executive with Xiamen R&B Group, the builder of the bridge, adding that the company also designed longer spans for the piers to avoid any risks to the animal’s normal activities.

“In the Xiamen bay, which sees frequent human activities, the stability and increasing size of the population of Chinese white dolphins indicate that the ecosystem here is healthy,” Wang said, adding that the protection of the species will also facilitate that of other marine species living in the same habitat.