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Yangtze Finless orpoise
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Yangtze Finless Porpoise
Overview
Adult porpoises can reach an average height of around 5 – 6 ft in length and weigh as much as 100 pounds, however their skeleton is relatively light accounting for only 4 – 6 percent of their total body weight. They have a life span of approximately 25 years.
They live in small groups of up to ten individuals. Their reproduction rate is low – a typical pregnancy lasts about 11 months and results in a single birth. Females give birth to a calf that is up to 79cm long, usually in the spring or summer. The calves feed on their mothers milk until they are old enough to catch their own prey. Female finless porpoise have an extremely strong maternal instinct and rarely, if ever, abandon their offspring when faced with danger.
Overview
Overview
- Unlike most porpoises they don’t have a fin on their back.
- They have a rounded head and are a dark to pale colour.
- They have moderately large flippers
- They don't leap out of water like a dolphin, but they do like to 'spy hop'. This is when it looks like they are standing up in the water and then use their fins to spin round so they can see whats happening.
They need an abundant food supply for survival. Their diet consists of small fish, molluscs and crustaceans, like shrimps.
Unfortunately, they are classified as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
In 2012 there were as few as 1,000 finless porpoises left in the Yangtze. There is almost 90% chance that the Yangtze Finless Porpoise will be extinct in the next century unless urgent conservation efforts are made.
World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted
Why did the species adapt?
Habitat and Adaptations
Habitat and Adaptations
The Yangtze finless porpoise is found in the main Yangtze river channel in central and eastern China, and in two lakes, naturally connected to the river, in the central Yangtze - Dongting and Poyang. They can also be found in two oxbow lakes, Tie ezhou and He wangmiao, where they have been recently translocated.
They have a streamlined- shaped body to help it swim away from predators such as sharks that live in the river.
It has a tail with a large surface area to move more water at once, this helps the porpoise move quicker in less time.
They are adapted to freshwater and harbour genetic variants that could account for changes in kidney function and maintain the right balance of water and salts in the blood.
HPL - Linking: Why did this animal adapt?
Impact
The yangtze finless porpoise adapted to be able to move quicker because those that couldn’t swim fast enough would have been killed by other predators. Therefore the faster they could swim the better chance of survival they had.
They did this by slowly procuring a smooth streamlined body shape which allows its body to slice through the water.
Conservation of the species
How did the Yangtze Finless Porpoise become an endangered species?
Do you have any ideas why it became endangered?
BOATS
HUMAN ACTIVITY
LOSS OF FOOD SOURCES
SAND MINING
Why did it become endangered?
OVERFISHING
HABITAT LOSS
GLOBAL WARMING / CLIMATE CHANGE
ILLEGAL FISHING
How did the Yangtze Finless Porpoise become an endangered species?
- Overfishing reduces their natural prey and as you know they need to have an abundant diet
- Habitat loss the main factor of this is pollution, the Yangtze River has industrial waste-water discharge, agricultural chemical fertilizers, sediment accumulation, ship garbage and acid rain this means that their habitat is very contaminated
- They are not targeted by fisherman but in some incidents they get entangled in the fishing gear or struck by the boats as they pas underneath the water. Also in some cases the noise in the engine prevents porpoises from calling to one another, this could mean more predators as they are an easy target
- Loss of food sources from the human activity and overfishing which makes them starve
- Climate change
How does the Yangtze Finless Porpoise become an endangered species?
- Illegal methods of fishing also have caused the decreasement of these species. People don't necessarily want to kill them but with the electro-fishing they kill anything that is surrounding the explosion. This is an illegal method of fishing that became widespread across the Yangtze region during the 1990s. This is normally used by people that don't know how to fish, they operate at night and create a huge electric charge into the river and collecting all dead fish float up to the surface. This is extremely destructive this can kill anything within a range of 20 metres
- Sand mining
How did the Yangtze Finless Porpoise become an endangered species?
Humans actions is the most dominant factor for it's endangerment. These are the two most common and important causes.
- Dams and gates in the river cut off the yangtze finless porpoise groups and so create small isolated groups, therefore it is harder for them to find food and mates, moreover these also change the natural flows and sediment in rivers.
- The sand dredging In lakes disturb the porpoise as they move their sediments form place.
What efforts are humans doing to perserve the species?
Impact
Conservation of the species
WWF has been working with partners since 2002 to help protect the Yangtze Finless Porpoise, part-founded by the HSBC Water Programme. WWF has specifically been involved in activities relating to population monitoring, habitat conservation, establish oxbow lake reserves, policy influencing and awareness raising.
On October 24th 2014, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture granted the Yangtze Finless Porpoise ‘National First Grade Key Protected Wild Animal Status’, this is the highest level of protection under Chinese law. The ministry now has greater powers to control illegal fishing, protect its habitat and inspect finless porpoise protection projects along the lower and middle sections of the Yangtze River.
What efforts are humans doing to perserve the species?
Impact
Conservation of the species
However, the Yangtze Finless Porpoise still faces a number of threats and they could escalate in the coming years. Much more needs to be done to save this species. The next step is the release of the ‘Yangtze Finless Porpoise Protection Action Plan’, which will promote greater cooperation between key departments, such as water conservancy, shipping and water lane programming, and ensure that the potential impact of any decision on the porpoise population is taken into consideration.
HPL - Meta cognition: How would the potential extinction of your organism affects other species
Why did it become endangered?
- They help the environment to stay healthy, this is good for all of the other animals that live there
- Their preys would not be eaten and so it will increase in numbers and unbalance the food chain, this could lead to more extinct and endangered animals
- By helping the porpoises we help preserve healthy rivers and lakes in which a lot of people rely on for food, provision of clean water and as source of livelihoods (to the people and animals around them)
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https://www.aljazeera.com/program/earthrise/2015/4/28/swedens-green-port-yangtze-porpoises-leftover-cafes/
Watch from 17:40 to 19:53
How have we used HPL in our presentation?
We have used intellectual playfulness as we added new information to the presentation that we didn't have to include and so we recognized the information and extended it to be more informative and even for the group at the same time.
We have used linking as we have used our prior knowledge about adaptations and extinction to create an accurate presentation.
We have used a wide range of vocabulary and different ways of interpreting the information we discovered about the Yangtze finless porpoise.
Habitat and Adaptations
We have used HPL meta-cognition when we used a wide range of vocabulary and different ways of interpreting information.
We have used fluent, evolutionary and revolutionary thinking as we have created extra slides to have more information and so all of us have 2 slides each so it is fair.
We have also used alternative perspectives as we have talked to organise ourselves in school and outside school. Moreover we have been working on team work as we have listened to each other and also helping us inside the group
We have used linking as we have linked our previous knowledge about natural selection and adaptation to our presentation.