Yangtze Finless Porpoise: The World’s Only Freshwater Porpoise (and Why It’s on the Brink)

Key Takeaways

• Critically endangered: Fewer than 1,000 are thought to remain in the wild, with fragmented sub-populations in the Yangtze River system.

• Multiple threats, not just one: Entanglement in fishing gear, vessel strikes, river engineering, shipping noise, water pollution, and habitat fragmentation all compound the decline.

• Real conservation momentum: China’s Yangtze River Protection Law (2021) instituted a 10-year fishing ban in key stretches; protected reserves and semi-natural oxbow refuges plus captive-breeding have begun to stabilize some groups.

What Is the Yangtze Finless Porpoise?

Common name: Yangtze finless porpoise (also called narrow-ridged finless porpoise)
Scientific name: Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis (a freshwater subspecies of the narrow-ridged finless porpoise)
Taxon: Order Cetacea (relatives of whales and dolphins)

This is the only porpoise adapted to freshwater anywhere on Earth. Streamlined and small-bodied (up to ~2 m / 6.5 ft and ~100 kg / 220 lb), it lacks a dorsal fin; instead, a narrow, low ridge runs along the back and is studded with tiny tubercles. The head is blunt with no beak, and the species relies heavily on echolocation to hunt in turbid river water.

Where Do They Live?

• Core range: Middle–lower Yangtze River in China.

• Key strongholds: River sections between Yichang–Jingzhou and Ezhou–Nanjing, plus connected floodplain lakes such as Poyang and Dongting.

• Habitat needs: Slow to moderate flow, complex shorelines, seasonal floodplain connectivity, and relatively quiet soundscapes that allow effective echolocation.

Decades of damming, dredging, channelization, and bank hardening have broken the river into ecological fragments, isolating porpoise groups and limiting access to food and breeding areas.

How Many Are Left? A Rapid Decline in Two Generations

• Early 1990s: estimates above 2,500

• Mid-2000s: near 1,800

• 2012 survey of the main stem: ~500 detected

• Today: widely reported as <1,000 across river and lake habitats combined

These trends prompted the IUCN Red List to list the Yangtze finless porpoise as Critically Endangered.

What’s Driving the Decline?

This is a classic “death by a thousand cuts” scenario—no single cause explains the downturn; it’s the stacking of threats.

1. Bycatch & gear conflict
   Gillnets and other fishing gear can ensnare porpoises, causing injury, drowning, or chronic entanglement wounds.

2. Vessel strikes & chronic noise
   Heavy shipping traffic raises the risk of collision and introduces underwater noise that masks echolocation clicks and social calls, degrading foraging and navigation.

3. Pollution
   Industrial and agricultural runoff increases turbidity and carries toxins that accumulate in the food web; plastic debris poses entanglement/ingestion risks.

4. River engineering
   Dams, sluices, and dredging simplify habitats, cut off floodplain lakes, and alter seasonal flows crucial for fish and porpoise movement.

5. Prey depletion
   Long-term overfishing reduces forage fish—forcing porpoises to work harder and travel farther for food.

A Cautionary Parallel: The Baiji Dolphin

The Yangtze’s other endemic cetacean, the Baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), was declared functionally extinct in 2006 after a last-ditch survey. Its loss underscores the urgency: without aggressive, sustained action, the porpoise could follow the same path.

Conservation: Where Progress Is Happening

1) Legal Protection & Fishery Reforms

• Yangtze River Protection Law (2021): A landmark 10-year fishing ban in major sections of the river and key tributaries aims to reduce bycatch and allow fish stocks—and by extension porpoises—to recover.

2) Reserves and “Semi-Natural” Refuges

• Nature reserves safeguard high-use habitats.

• Oxbow sanctuaries (e.g., Tian’e-Zhou) mimic natural conditions with far less boat traffic and fishing pressure. Porpoises translocated here have survived and reproduced, building a safety-net population.

3) Captive Care & Assurance Colonies

• Since the late 1990s, the Institute of Hydrobiology (Chinese Academy of Sciences) has maintained small, carefully managed groups. These support research on acoustics, reproduction, health, and potential reintroduction strategies.

4) Re-connecting the River–Lake Mosaic

• Projects to reopen channels between the main stem and floodplain lakes (e.g., Poyang, Dongting) restore seasonal flows, fish migrations, and movement corridors for porpoises.

5) Community Engagement & Education

• Workshops with fishing communities, school programs, and targeted outreach reduce illegal gear use, improve reporting of strandings, and build pride around porpoise stewardship.

What Makes the Yangtze Finless Porpoise Unique? (At a Glance)

• Only freshwater porpoise species on the planet

• No dorsal fin; narrow ridged back with tubercles

• High-frequency echolocation adapted to murky rivers

• Indicator species: Its health mirrors the broader river ecosystem’s condition

How You Can Help (Even From Afar)

• Support credible NGOs working on Yangtze freshwater conservation, bycatch reduction, and wetland restoration.

• Choose sustainable seafood and avoid gear-intensive products tied to gillnet bycatch.

• Boost awareness: Share articles, documentaries, or school resources about river cetaceans and the Yangtze’s biodiversity.

• Reduce plastic & chemical runoff in your own life—global watersheds are connected.

FAQ

Why is noise such a big deal for porpoises?
They “see” with sound. Shipping noise can mask echolocation clicks, making it harder to navigate, communicate, and find prey—especially in already turbid water.

What are the top conservation actions right now?
A mix of fishing bans and enforcement, protected river/lake refuges, semi-natural oxbows, captive assurance colonies, and habitat reconnection projects. Education and local co-management are critical to long-term success.

Is recovery realistic?
Yes—if mortality from bycatch and vessel strikes continues to drop, prey recovers, and key habitats remain quiet and connected. Early results from Tian’e-Zhou and other refuges show porpoises can breed and build numbers under the right conditions.

Bottom Line

The Yangtze finless porpoise is a singular, freshwater-adapted cetacean teetering on the edge—but not beyond saving. With strong law enforcement, smarter fisheries, quieter river stretches, and reconnected floodplains, this species can persist as the living pulse of Asia’s greatest river.

animal tags: Yangtze finless porpoise

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a Animals Top editor.