Probe launched into dwindling porpoise numbers  

长江江豚科考启动 关注“水中大熊猫”

由中国农业部、中科院水生生物研究所和世界自然基金会组成的2012年长江淡水豚考察队11日从武汉起航，将在长江流域展开为期40天的科考行动。本次科考是继2006年长江白鳍豚考察后，再度全面考察江豚生存状况。

Wuhan (CNS) -- A scientific investigation team started a journey Saturday to explore the condition of the Yangtze finless porpoise, an endangered species that is decreasing at a rate of 6.4 percent a year.

The team is comprised of more than 30 people from China's Ministry of Agriculture, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the World Wide Fund for Nature. They departed from Wuhan and will pass through Yichang, arriving finally at Shanghai after a round trip of over 3,000 kilometers that will take about 40 days.

The Yangtze finless porpoise population has existed for over 25 million years. The ancient mammals mainly inhabit the Yangtze River and two connecting freshwater lakes, the Dongting and Poyang.

As of 2006, there were only 1,800 of the porpoises, a tally even smaller than China's national treasure, the giant panda, said Wang Ding, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The academy conducted a pre-investigation at the Dongting and Poyang lakes at the end of October, discovering that the porpoise number had decreased to 90 from the 150 counted in 2006, Wang said.

Illegal fishing and environmental pollution are the two key causes of the decline, added Wang.