STORY: A shutterbug's passion for finless porpoises
SHOOTING TIME: Earlier footage
DATELINE: Nov. 26, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:21
LOCATION: YICHANG, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Yangtze finless porpoises
2. various of Yang He
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): YANG HE, Photographer in Yichang
4. various of Yang He
5. various of the Yangtze finless porpoises
6. various of Yang He
7. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): YANG HE, Photographer
8. various of Yang He
9. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): YANG HE, Photographer
10. various of the Yangtze finless porpoises

STORYLINE:

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): YANG HE, Photographer in Yichang
"I've been following finless porpoises and snapping pictures of them since I retired. Every morning when I wake up, the first thing in my head is to photograph finless porpoises. It wasn't until August 2020 that I finally captured my first good photo of a finless porpoise. The feeling at that moment was truly exhilarating."

65-year-old Yang He grew up along the Yangtze River. He became a volunteer to protect the Yangtze finless porpoises in 2019. Since then, he has been devoted to taking photos of the species every day, rain or shine.

The Yangtze finless porpoise, which is under top-level state protection in China, is an important indicator of the health of the Yangtze River ecology.

For Yang, the Yangtze finless porpoises are like his family and friends.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): YANG HE, Photographer
"In February 2022, on the 9th day of the Lunar New Year, I was photographing finless porpoises as usual by the Yangtze River, when I discovered a finless porpoise with its tail entangled in a rope. Noticing that the finless porpoise was breathing with difficulty, I immediately called the police.
Local authorities jointly rescued the finless porpoise. After that, I paid much attention to it, hoping to capture it once again. On April 29, I found it had given birth to a little baby, and they have settled down in Yichang City."

Over the past five years, Yang has taken over 100,000 photos of the endangered species.
Yang can even identify every new-born finless porpoise in the Yichang section of the Yangtze River.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): YANG HE, Photographer
"A good photograph not only holds value for the media, but also carries significance for scientific research.
The finless porpoises are just like my own children. I see myself as an elder for them. I visit them every day, always with a sense of longing. I will spend the rest of my life capturing images of the finless porpoises. As long as I can walk, drive and carry my camera, I'll continue to photograph them."

China has taken a series of measures to protect the Yangtze River, including removing chemical enterprises situated along the river, restoring the river shoreline, upgrading sewage treatment, and imposing a 10-year fishing ban along the river's main streams and major tributaries.
The population of the Yangtze finless porpoises had increased to 1,249 in 2022, up 23.42 percent from five years ago.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Yichang, China.
(XHTV)