ByPreface
The crisp offshore wind blows the tops of the waves, bringing everything to life. If you can see Chinese white dolphins poking their heads on the endless sea level, the charm of life surpasses all sights.
Isn't the Chinese white dolphin in the video beautiful and moving, like a mythical beast in a fairyland, and the pink color on its body is more like the color in a girl's dream? There is a filter in the video. In real life, its shades are more like a pale pink carnation pinker than in the video.
However, the pink color of the white dolphin is not caused by pigments or a mutation but by the blood vessels (hemoglobin transported in the blood vessels) under the skin, which is related to the regulation of body temperature. Chinese white dolphins generally fade from dark gray at birth to white as adults.
（Photographed by Qixiang Li in Sanniang Bay, Qinzhou, Guangxi, 2021）
The Chinese white dolphin is a national first-class protected animal. Its body is slender and spindle-shaped, and its beak is protruding and long. New-born dolphins are around 1 meter long and reach 2-2.5 meters after reaching sexual maturity (the longest running 2.7 meters) and weighing 200-250 kg. The dorsal fin is located near the center and is in the shape of a backward-inclined triangle; the pectoral fin is relatively round, with a broad base, and is exceptionally flexible in movement; the caudal fin is horizontal, solid, and robust, and is divided into two symmetrical lobes with a central notch, which is conducive to its fast swimming. The eyes are black and shiny, and there are 20-37 conical teeth of the same type on each side of the upper and lower jaws (the number of teeth in the upper jaw is around 30-36; the number of teeth in the lower jaw is around 24-37), and the dentition is sparse. The snout is narrow, pointed, and long, less than one-tenth of the body length. A " V " groove separates the beak from the forehead. There are relatively fewer and longer bones in the vertebrae. There are five fingers on the flippers. The whole body's color is ivory or milky white, with many small gray-black spots scattered on the back and some slightly pink abdomens. The short dorsal fin, thin and round pectoral fin, and well-proportioned triangular caudal fin are all brownish gray (tinted with light red).
(Photo: Mr. Yi Zhao, director and researcher of Beijing Pan Wenshi Biodiversity Research Center, taken in Sanniang Bay, Qinzhou, Guangxi)
In terms of distribution, it is mainly located in the Western Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the East Sea. There are records of wild populations in China’s Guangxi Beibu Gulf, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, and coastal areas of Fujian Province.
The earliest record of their discovery in China was in the Tang Dynasty and Early Qing Dynasty.
(This picture is a Chinese white dolphin, photographed by Mr. Zhao Yi, director and researcher of Beijing Pan Wenshi Biodiversity Research Center, Sanniang Bay, Qinzhou, Guangxi)
(This picture is a Chinese river dolphin, from the internet)
Do the names "Chinese White Dolphin" and "Baiji" resemble each other? Keep them separate, though, as they are distinct from one another.
The introduction of the Chinese white dolphin and Baiji dolphin from above shows that they inhabit very distinct bodies of water and have remarkably diverse appearances.
The reason why images of Chinese white dolphins are misidentified as images of Baiji dolphins (as seen in the image below) is that people do not understand them, which ultimately results in our misinterpretation of these two beautiful aquatic animals.
(Chinese white dolphins introduced as Lipotes vexillifer, screenshot from the internet)
Chinese white dolphins are now incredibly vulnerable to interference from human activities since they live in estuaries and coastal regions, which frequently coincide with economic development zones and shipping-intensive locations. The destruction and disappearance of suitable shallow sea habitats brought on by reclamation and other projects, accidental harm from fishing nets, ship collisions, noise pollution brought on by projects and ships, water pollution from pesticides and coastal industries, and overfishing-related fishery depletion severally impact the Chinese white dolphins' ability to reproduce and survive.
So please pay attention to our WLOL for the sake of the diverse species on our planet! Let's take action to discover more about wild animals and more native wild animals in China!