Abundance and conservation status of the Yangtze finless porpoise in the Yangtze River, China

The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis) is a highly threatened cetacean endemic to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River that has suffered a dramatic decline in recent decades. We characterize and quantify recent distribution patterns of porpoises in the Yangtze River in order to facilitate strategic management of existing in situ cetacean reserves and maximize effective utilization of limited conservation resources. We calculated porpoise relative abundance (encounter rate) using a 1‐km moving average along the Yangtze main stem based on a combined visual and acoustic survey conducted in 2006.

Barlow, B. L. Taylor, R. L. Pitman, K. Wang, Z. Wei, B. S. Stewart, S. T. Turvey, T. Akamatsu, R. R. Reeves, and D. Wang.