Known as the “smiling angel”, sightings of the first-class protected Yangtze River Finless Porpoise are becoming increasingly frequent, to the extent that a second photography competition has produced some stunning shots of the unique beast in its natural habitat.
On 5 December, winners in the second Nanjing Finless Porpoise Photography Competition were announced. After a month’s solicitation, the competition received hundreds of entries. Besides veteran finless porpoise photographers, the competition also attracted many young first timers to participate.
Overall winner, Wang Zhenqi (王臻祺), a graduate student from Nanjing Forestry University, immediately fell in love with the porpoise when he came to Nanjing in September of this year.
“During the National Day holiday this year, I went to Nanjing to observe the finless porpoise. I didn’t get anything the first two times; I was very lucky the third time. I took a group of wonderful pictures of finless porpoises and won first prize”, Wang told Nanjing Daily.
Among the other winners were Chen Shuming, Kong Jianguo, Liu Qi, Ji Weihe, Wu Jiamin and Wei Ye.
According to Jiang Meng, Secretary General of the Nanjing Finless Porpoise Conservation Association, more than one photographer submitted photos of the porpoise framed with the iconic Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge. While porpoises near the bridge are not unusual, it is a rarity that the two be seen together so clearly.
The Yangtze River Finless Porpoise has a round head and a charming smile, features which it is proud to show off, particularly around Nanjing’s Fish Mouth Park, Jiangxin Zhou, Qian Zhou and Zhongshan Wharf. No wonder spotting the porpoises has recently become a popular local pastime.
Known as “baiji” in Chinese, the Yangtze River Finless Porpoise was brought to the verge of extinction earlier in the 2010s. But as The Nanjinger reported last month, that more and more of the porpoises are being sighted in the Nanjing stretch of the Yangtze is a good indicator for the steady progress that our city has made in improving the environmental conditions of the river.
Specifically for the porpoise, the Nanjing Yangtze Finless Porpoise Provincial Nature Reserve was established in 2014 with a total area of 86.92 square kilometres.
Nanjing has been joined in its efforts by other places along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province, as well as selected locations in Anhui, Hubei and Jiangxi Provinces, which have set up their own nature reserves.
