＂smiling angel＂ watcher captures the moment when Yangtze finless porpoise preys.

　　Since 2019, Yang He has taken clear "registration photos" for 13 Yangtze finless porpoises in Yichang waters. From the finless porpoise being trapped to falling in love, from predation to being a mother walking her baby … Yang He’s lens frames a lot of precious moments such as the finless porpoise’s living habitat and reproduction, which provides more sufficient scientific research basis for researchers.

　　□ Changjiang Daily reporter Jin Wenbing correspondent Shi Fengling Yang Zhiji

　　On March 28th, it was cloudy. Yang He, 64, shouldered a heavy camera and came to the Yangtze River under Gezhouba in Yichang again.

　　Yang He told the Changjiang Daily reporter that he usually identifies and confirms the Yangtze finless porpoises according to their various marks and scars.

　　According to his continuous observation, two finless porpoise families have come here these days, and he named them Family 1 and Family 2 respectively.

　　There are 3 finless porpoises in the No.1 family, including a sub-adult individual. "Look, there is still a festering wound on the tail of this finless porpoise. I can recognize it at a glance." Family No.1 has no fixed territory, and likes to chase fish around, belonging to the "leisure family" who eats where they go.

　　The second family has six members, has a relatively fixed activity area, and generally hunts around their own "one acre and three points".

　　Yang He found that after the two families met, they generally kept a safe distance, and occasionally they formed a big circle in partnership, herded the fish together and preyed separately. At this time, they are more likely to jump out of the water, and Yang He can photograph their physical characteristics.

　　Since 2019, he has taken clear "registration photos" of 13 finless porpoises in Yichang waters for more than three years, which can help researchers to conduct scientific research better.

　　■ The trapped finless porpoise was found in the camera during shooting.

　　After being rescued, it may be a mother again.

　　"As long as it is to protect the finless porpoise, I am willing to do it." As a contracted photographer, Yang He told the reporter, "There is a finless porpoise, which is especially close to me!"

　　On February 9 last year, Yang He and his friend Yang Zhiji stayed by the river to shoot the finless porpoise. Suddenly, he found in the camera that the tail of a finless porpoise was entangled in a rope, and it was struggling desperately … Yang He quickly asked the fishery administration for help.

　　With the rapid rescue of fishery officials, this finless porpoise was released from "bundling". Yanghe won precious gold rescue time for this trapped finless porpoise.

　　After that, he has been worried about it and took its rescue time as its number-"209".

　　A month later, Yang He saw in the camera that the ligature mark on its tail was still not healed, but it was able to jump out of the river and catch fish. "This is no big problem, it can survive!"

　　Two months later, its injured part has recovered, but it left an obvious scar. "This scar makes it easy for me to distinguish it quickly."

　　At the same time, he found that "209" became more and more bloated and seemed to be pregnant. Sure enough, three months later, "209" had a lively baby around him. He named the little finless porpoise "429" after the time he photographed it.

　　The pregnancy cycle of finless porpoise is 12 months. In this way, he was involved in the rescue of "209", which was equivalent to saving two lives at a time!

　　"For a year, I insisted on staying by the river every day. From the discovery that the tail wound of’ 209′ gradually healed to complete healing, from the birth of its child to self-reliance after weaning, I recorded the whole process perfectly with a camera." On March 15th this year, Yang He wrote a message in his "Dolphin Watching Diary", "This is the first time that the wild finless porpoise was specially recorded by the camera after it was rescued. This set of video materials is very precious. "

　　What makes him even more happy is that recently, he observed that "209"’ s abdomen is getting bigger and bigger day by day, and his appetite is also increasing. He highly suspects that it is pregnant again. After hearing the news, researcher Wang Ding from the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences specially asked Yang He to pay more attention to observation and strive to photograph its calving process.

　　■ finless porpoises also play "kissing" when they are in a strong place.

　　Larger people will also "go out to work"

　　In March this year, Yang He once again photographed the whole process of a pair of finless porpoises from "blind date" to "passionate love" to "bridal chamber". He noticed that they have a lot of intimate actions, in addition to gently rubbing each other, there are also active "kissing" behaviors. Then, they slapped each other on the water and stepped into the hall of love.

　　On February 25th, he accompanied Jia Liancheng, an eco-photographer in Wuhan, and photographed the breeding behavior of finless porpoises, which further proved that the mating behavior of finless porpoises would last for 2-3 days or 3-5 days.

　　"Shooting these behaviors is not to satisfy people’s curiosity. It is this behavior that verifies that finless porpoises can complete their reproductive behavior in the natural environment, and their population recovery has more hope. " Yang He is very happy.

　　Yang He confirmed that the finless porpoise is a matriarchal society. Generally, an adult female dolphin is the parent, with several "young aunts" and several children, forming a family.

　　Through continuous observation, Yanghe has made some new discoveries that overturn traditional records and have scientific research value. For example, previous studies have believed that the water temperature of finless porpoises should exceed 18℃, otherwise, finless porpoises can hardly survive at low temperature. Yang He’s observation confirmed that the finless porpoise can still give birth normally at the water temperature of 13℃ ~ 15℃, and the baby finless porpoise can survive healthily.

　　A finless porpoise eats about 3 kilograms of fish a day. However, in the lower reaches of Gezhouba, as the water becomes clearer, the bait in the water becomes less and less, and the small fish suitable for finless porpoises to prey on are also less and less. Even if they come, the individuals are getting smaller and smaller. Yang He found that the larger finless porpoise took the initiative to "go out to work" to make a living, leaving the "hometown" to the mother and son dolphins and sub-adult individuals to live and feed.

　　■ Keep a day in order to take a good picture.

　　Finless porpoises can also show a lot of emotions.

　　Yang He, born in 1959, has been filming and guarding finless porpoises for nearly ten years.

　　At first, it was out of a photographer’s interest in natural ecology. At that time, the camera used was also very simple, and the finless porpoises photographed were "black spots".

　　He often goes out early and comes back late alone, with dry food. Every year, it costs more than 10,000 yuan just to drive "chasing dolphins" and other transportation expenses. This has always been a big expense for him who has retired. The rocks by the river are rugged, and he has fallen many times. It is common for him to be bruised and bleed.

　　At first, his wife didn’t understand why he spent all this money. She would rather get tanned and fall from time to time, but also shoot. Seeing that his photos of the finless porpoise have attracted more attention and are willing to participate in the protection of the "smiling angel" finless porpoise, his wife also understands her husband’s pursuit.

　　In December last year, his daughter sponsored him to upgrade a better camera lens, so that he could capture more features of the finless porpoise, which was conducive to identifying the finless porpoise and judging its condition.

　　His friend "Journey to the Dragon" commented that he was a "lonely watchman" who would rather stay for a day in order to shoot a good film.

　　Yang He said with a smile, "The finless porpoise is a very sensitive creature and can show a lot of emotions. For example, that’ 209′ has always had a good impression on human beings. Every time I go to take pictures, it seems to be able to perceive my existence, and the action of paddling is more brisk. "

　　■ finless porpoises live freely in the Yangtze River.

　　They all have their own "registration photos"

　　With his deeper understanding of finless porpoises, the pictures he shot have more scientific research value, so the Institute of Hydrobiology of Chinese Academy of Sciences hired him as a "special observer". He changed from a simple photographer to a watcher of finless porpoise!

　　At present, Yang He and his friends are working together to "individually identify" all finless porpoises in Yichang waters. Take a family as a group, take a group of "registration photos" for each finless porpoise, identify them according to their external characteristics such as skin color, scar position and size, and give them a number or nickname, so as to record their personalized behavior habits. This is a matter without precedent in China, which will be conducive to promoting the individual research and behavioral research of wild finless porpoises. Hao Yujiang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Aquatic Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, commented.

　　With the great protection of the Yangtze River and the policy of "ten-year fishing ban", finless porpoises live freely and leisurely in this water area. They also gradually understand the "traffic rules" in the river, know when to follow the boat for food, when to avoid sailing, where to find more food to fill their stomachs, and how to pursue "girlfriends" to thrive.

　　Yang He, a porpoise watcher, was invited into the CCTV studio for the second time to tell the story of the great protection of the Yangtze River with these precious pictures. On March 26th, Xinhua News Agency released a micro-video, telling how he "made it his lifelong mission to record the life of this precious creature, the finless porpoise"!