On the afternoon of March 20th, a finless porpoise was stranded on the shore of east Zhanqiao. Because the tide was receding at that time, the tide level at the bank was getting lower and lower, the finless porpoise was trapped inside the shore reef and couldn’t move at all. The policemen of Ba Da Xia Frontier Security Station, which received the alarm, came to the site with the staff of the Qingdao Red Cross Jin Shan maritime rescue team. Three yachts were used to send this “lost” finless porpoise back to the deep sea area, which is 1km far away from the south of Zhanqiao. The finless porpoise returning to the deep sea dove a circle around the yacht and then swam away.

    A finless porpoise was stranded in the east shore of Zhanqiao

    “A finless porpoise was stranded here by the shore. No matter how hard it struggles, it cannot turn around and swim back.” At 3:24 in the afternoon of March 20th, the Ba Da Xia Frontier Police Station received an alarm from a citizen saying that a finless porpoise was stranded on the shore of east Zhanqiao. The policemen hurried to the site immediately and on the way they got in touch with the Qingdao Red Cross Jin Shan maritime rescue team. After 10 minutes, the policemen and maritime rescue team came to the accident site respectively from the land and sea. Our reporter noticed that a finless porpoise, over 2m long, stranded by the stone dam shore of east Zhanqiao with its head towards the east and its tail towards the west. The finless porpoise was rising and falling with sea waves and swung its tail fin occasionally. Because it was the time for the tide to recede, the tide level on the shore was becoming lower and lower. As a result, the finless porpoise was trapped by the reef and couldn’t make any moves.

    Life jackets protected the trapped finless porpoise

    Because the shoreline here is reef-dense, the 3 yachts that arrived could not get close enough to the finless porpoise. Two policemen and two rescuers jumped into the sea respectively from the shore and yacht to carry out the rescue. The rescuers tried to push the finless porpoise into the deep sea by the submerged reef and sea wave prevented the finless porpoise from making any moves. Considering the submerged reef and many boats berthed in the east side of Zhanqiao and to minimize the harm to the finless porpoise, the rescuers decided to use the yacht to bring the finless porpoise to the deep sea area to the west of Zhanqiao and escort it to the deep sea before leaving it alone. To avoid the possibility that the reef could harm the finless porpoise, the rescuers wrapped the finless porpoise’s head and body with two life jackets taken from the yachts, carried the finless porpoise to the yacht side by utilizing the flotation of life jackets and secured it with a ribbon.

    The ocean current in Qingdao helped the finless porpoise swim back to the deep sea

    “There is a large ocean current in the deep sea area about 1km away from the south Zhanqiao, which leads directly to the deep Jiaozhou Bay. We can free it there,” said Guo Youzhong, the head of Qingdao Red Cross Jinshan maritime rescue team. He was guiding the yachts to steer into the right deep water area. To prevent any accidents, the yacht was advancing at a slow speed of about 3 to 4 knots and the other two yachts were in front of and behind it to offer protection. At 4:10 pm, the rescue yacht carrying the finless porpoise arrived at the deep-sea area about 1km away from the south of Zhanqiao. A strong ocean current flowing from the east to the west could be felt there. “Here we are. Even the finless porpoise doesn’t use any force, the ocean current can take it to the deep sea,” said Mr. Guo, the team head, as he guided the rescuers to untie the ribbon. The finless porpoise, which regained freedom, dove a circle around the yacht and swam away promptly. Looking at the direction where the finless porpoise swam away, the rescuers seemed to be a little unwilling to part. The three rescue yachts stopped for nearly 10 minutes and returned to the shore after confirming the finless porpoise didn’t swim back.

    The best rescue it to free it to the deep sea

    “Finless porpoise is also named sea pig. It belongs to migratory aquatic animals and widely exist in the Huanghai Sea,” said Jin Peng, the director of the sea animal section of Qingdao Aquarium. He told us that finless porpoise migrate to the Huanghai Sea for breeding from March to June every year. They give birth to their offspring here and the number hit the summit in summer. Before and after September, finless porpoises, which have already given birth to young babies, will come back to the deep sea with their daughters and sons. After seeing the photo brought by our reporter, Jin Peng confirms that this is an adult finless porpoise, about 6 years old. Physically looking, it doesn’t have any injury but it looks thin and weak. According to Jin Peng, the finless porpoise is gregarious aquatic mammal and seldom leaves the herds and acts alone. Because finless porpoise tell apart directions by echo location, the vibration of large ships can make cause “loss of hearing” temporarily, which can probably cause individual finless porpoises to get lost. Because finless porpoises are habitually unsuitable for artificial feeding, the best rescue means is to escort it to the deep sea and free it. Then it uses echolocation to find its own herd. Zhao Jianpeng

    (1. The rescuers were wrapping the finless porpoise with life jackets to prevent any injury.

    2. The rescuers were gently touching the finless porpoise and saying goodbye.

    3. The rescuers jumped into water to help the finless porpoise.)