A fisherman released an endangered Chinese white dolphin after accidentally catching it in the East China Sea.

Video filmed on March 5 shows a fisherman named Yang Yitong carrying a dolphin calf in a plastic bucket and releasing it back into the sea.

According to Yang, he accidentally caught the 1.2-metre-long and around 50kg Chinese white dolphin which is also known as the Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin when fishing.

After he realised that the dolphin's tail fin was caught by the fishing net, he used a pair of scissors to cut it off.

The crew members on the fishing boat then put the dolphin into a basket together and released it.

According to the Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong, the number of Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins in Hong Kong waters rose from 32 to 52 between April 2019 and March 2020.

It is listed as a “Grade 1 National Key Protected Species” in mainland China.

3月5日，浙江台州，渔民杨亦通在东海海域捕捞时，捕捞上了一头通体白色的海豚幼崽，随后放归大海。
杨亦通介绍，当天捕捞上来的物种，在他们当地俗称为“海猪”。“它体长约1.2米，重量估摸100斤左右吧，我们几个人合力才能把渔网拉上来。”
捞到“海猪”后，杨亦通发现它的尾鳍被渔网割伤了，赶紧拿来剪刀把网剪断。随后，船员一起把这条“海猪”放进箩筐里，拿到船尾处放生。“海猪”被放归大海中，激起一阵阵浪花，随后它慢悠悠地摆动着尾巴，在这条船附近游动，似乎久久不愿离去……
那么，杨亦通口中的“海猪”，究竟是啥物种呢？经省厅水生野生动物专家鉴定，这是东亚江豚“幼体”，是海豚的一种，属于国家重点保护动物。
东亚江豚是最小的鲸目动物，头部较短，近似圆形，额部稍微向前凸出，吻部短而阔，上下颌几乎一样长，牙齿短小，左右侧扁呈铲形，喜欢生活在咸淡水交界的流域。