White-headed langur. Photo by correspondent Tang Lianzong
If you want to ask where China's magical creatures are, then Guangxi must be the "must-choose". Bryde's whales preying in the waters of Weizhou Island, Chinese white dolphins chasing the waves in Sanniang Bay, and white-headed langurs jumping on the cliffs...... No matter when and where, Guangxi's creatures can always occupy the "C position", attracting the attention of countless people.
As a global biodiversity hotspot and an important ecological barrier in southern China, Guangxi has continued to promote the integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and seas through the vigorous implementation of major biodiversity conservation projects in recent years, ranking among the top in the country in terms of ecological quality and biodiversity richness, and achieving remarkable results in biodiversity conservation.
As former UN Under-Secretary-General Erik Solheim praised at the 2024 International Day for Biological Diversity in Guangxi: "Guangxi is one of the most biodiverse regional hotspots in China and the world, and one of the most beautiful places in China and the world, which has played an important role in strengthening ecological environmental protection and biodiversity conservation." ”
Guarding the sea of "horseshoe crab".
Beibu Gulf is an important coastal biodiversity hotspot in the mainland, with not only natural marine ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass beds, and coral reefs, but also artificially built aquaculture ponds and salt pans, which together form a part of the diverse coastal ecosystems. It is home to marine life such as Bryde's whales, Chinese white dolphins, and green sea turtles, as well as an important wintering ground and supply station for waterbirds such as spoon-billed sandpipers, black-billed gulls, great crested terns, and rock-turning sandpipers.
The diverse coastal ecological environment and rich biological groups have made Beibu Gulf a frontier for marine biodiversity conservation, providing key habitats for many important and endangered marine and coastal organisms. In the intertidal zone of the coastal wetlands, there are a variety of benthic organisms, including ancient species of the same era as the dinosaurs, the Chinese horseshoe crab and the round-tailed scorpion crab, which are national second-class key protected wild animals. These benthic organisms are an important support for coastal biodiversity and represent the current status and changes of the intertidal environment.
At about 5 o'clock in the morning on June 15, the reporter followed the Guangxi Biodiversity Research and Conservation Association to Xia Village, Yintan Town, Yinhai District, Beihai City to carry out a monthly survey of Chinese horseshoe crabs. The sky will be white, waterfowl will fly overhead, the tide will just reced, and horseshoe crabs will sleep soundly in the mudflats. Members of the association and citizen scientists tread muddy waterways, deep and shallow, to survey and sample sites in tidal flats.
"You measure the temperature of the sea and pull out an 8×8-meter quadrat." Liu Chengshu, the leader of the investigation, told the members Huang Xiangtu to make preparations, and then carried out a carpet search for horseshoe crabs in the quadrat together, "There is a young horseshoe crab there, be careful not to step on it, everyone looks for other horseshoe crabs nearby." "After some measurements, it was a 3.7-centimeter-long round-tailed scorpion crab, and everyone released it back to the beach.
"April to September is the breeding and most active season for horseshoe crabs, and the purpose of this survey is to understand the seasonal movement of horseshoe crabs and the influence of tourists on them. Judging from the results of the survey, the horseshoe crabs are significantly more active in June than in previous months, and we are concerned that tourists will have a greater impact on them by the peak tourist season in July and August. Liu Chengshu said.
As a flagship species that marks the biodiversity and ecological environment of Beibu Gulf, the protection of horseshoe crab is to protect the biodiversity and ecological environment of Beibu Gulf. At present, the Chinese horseshoe crab and the round-tailed scorpion horseshoe crab have become national second-class key protected wild animals, and the conservation of horseshoe crabs has achieved gratifying results, such as in the Hepu Dugong National Nature Reserve in Guangxi, the number of horseshoe crabs has also increased in recent years.
In the past 10 years, the Guangxi Biodiversity Research and Conservation Association has established 10 benthic monitoring sample plots in coastal wetlands, identified 13 key coastal waterbird habitats and 9 key habitats of horseshoe crabs, and established 1 monitoring site for migratory raptors. Every year, the threats to horseshoe crabs, benthic organisms, migratory birds of prey, waterbirds, and coastal habitats are investigated and monitored, and corresponding conservation actions are taken, and the protection effect is gradually emerging.
It is heartening to note that with the deepening of ecological protection and nature education, public awareness of environmental protection has generally increased. After on-site science popularization and explanation, most people will choose to release benthic organisms, including horseshoe crabs.
The juvenile horseshoe crabs found during the investigation were measured and released back into the sea. Photo by reporter Zhong Chunyun
Every year, there are "whales" happy
"There is a fish in the North Underworld, and its name is Kun. The Kun is so big that I don't know how many thousands of miles it is. "Zhuangzi Wandering Away freezes people's early imagination of whales more than 2,000 years ago. Nowadays, in the waters of Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf, you can see the legend of whales.
Every winter and spring, there will be "whales" in the waters of Weizhou Island. If a "hill" of more than 10 meters suddenly rises on the surface of the sea, it is a Bryde's whale preying on fish. When it breathes, it also spews out a column of water two or three meters high. Every time someone takes videos and photos of Bryde's whales, they will always go viral on the Internet, and the public will be fans of this seemingly fierce but actually gentle giant beast.
Bryde's whales come to Weizhou Island because of their favorite anchovies, sardines and other oceanic cluster fish in this area. The predation of the fish attracts a large number of red-billed gulls to feed, and the scene is spectacular.
Bryde's whale is a medium-sized baleen whale widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters, generally there are two subspecies of nearshore Bryde's whale and open-sea Bryde's whale, and the inshore Bryde's whale in the waters of Weizhou Island is the nearshore Bryde's whale. However, in previous years, the existence of a stable Bryde's whale population in the waters of Weizhou Island has not been scientifically confirmed, and scientists have only learned a thing or two from local fishermen.
In 2018, the Beihai municipal government released news confirming the discovery of the first large cetacean living group in Chinese mainland near the coast - Bryde's whale group in the waters of Weizhou Island. This major discovery is due to the research team of the Guangxi Academy of Sciences who have been searching for the vast sea since 2016.
For a long time, the continent has lacked definitive evidence of large baleen whale habitat. It was not until the research team of the Guangxi Academy of Sciences took the lead and organized many continuous survey activities, through a variety of means such as fishermen's questionnaire surveys, continuous shooting, and sea field investigations, that it was confirmed for the first time that there was a stable group of Bryde's whales in the waters of Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf, which may be an important feeding ground for Bryde's whales.
In order to better protect the ecological environment of Weizhou Island, Beihai City promulgated and implemented the Regulations on the Ecological and Environmental Protection of Weizhou Island in Beihai City in 2018, which clearly prohibits the dumping of garbage and other wastes into the sea, and stipulates that Weizhou Island, Xieyang Island and the sea area 6 kilometers out of their coastline are permanent fishing ban areas. With the deepening of the research work, the number of Bryde's whale populations identified by the research team in the waters of Weizhou Island has increased from about 10 in 2016 to nearly 60 in 2023.
Clean beaches, clear blue waters, brilliant corals...... As the largest and youngest volcanic island in China, Weizhou Island not only has different forms of volcanic landscapes and sea erosion landforms, but also attracts a variety of marine life such as double-spoke sea anemones, black spotted sea rabbits, leopard sea cucumbers and other marine creatures to settle here. Now, more and more people are coming to Weizhou Island just to catch a glimpse of Bryde's whales.
"Migrants" are coming
Bird of prey migration is one of the most spectacular sights of migratory bird migration season. Guantouling in Beihai City is one of the must-pass places for birds of prey to migrate in autumn, providing an important habitat for thousands of birds, and it is also a bird-watching resort that has been "out of the circle" in recent years.
Guantouling is located at the southernmost tip of the mainland, surrounded by the sea on three sides, with an altitude of about 120 meters, and the geographical advantage of integrating mountains and seas allows birds of prey to use the updraft during the day to save energy and fly over the ocean. The forest vegetation of Guantouling can be used as a place for overnight stays, and other creatures in the forest and the sea can be fed by birds of prey, so it has become an important node on the migration route of raptors along the southeast coast in autumn.
In June this year, the Guangxi Biodiversity Research and Conservation Association released the "2023 Monitoring Report on Migratory Raptors in Guantouling, Beihai", in which 11,335 birds of prey of 29 species were recorded in Guantouling, which is not the largest number in the monitoring in the past years, but the richness of species is among the best in the previous data. The "three main horses" of the red-footed falcon, the crested honey eagle and the gray-faced eagle still hold their position firmly in Guantouling, and the number of records far exceeds that of other birds of prey. Among them, the number of red-footed falcons and crested bee eagles is comparable, both close to 3,000 times; The number of grey-faced hawks is relatively small, close to 2,000 times, which is still far higher than the fourth-most abundant Japanese pine sparrowhawk.
Watching tens of thousands of birds of prey come and go, 23 monitors and 200 public monitors were unswerving during the 46-day monitoring period on the ridge. Their watchfulness has yielded promising results: 2023 is the 14th year of monitoring migratory birds of prey in Guantouling, and the second year of monitoring the zeroing of gunfire. During the daytime during the entire monitoring period, almost no threats were recorded. However, at the same time, in the 30 patrols carried out in Guantouling during the day and at night, 41 suspected threats were recorded, and the threats at night could not be ignored, including bird traps, flashlights, etc.
"We have achieved the effect of 'occupying bird hunting spots' by holding a series of activities such as the Guangxi Bird Watching Competition for the purpose of protection for the purpose of 4 sessions. If the ridge is full of bird-watching people, bird-loving crowds will occupy the space for poaching. Liu Chengshu told reporters.
Continuing to pay attention to the migration and protection of migratory birds, the relevant management departments of Beihai City have led non-governmental organizations and volunteers to fight on the front line, carrying out joint law enforcement in Guantouling, conducting night patrols, patrolling Pudu Temple, Zixia Bay and other places, and inspecting all locations with high poaching in detail. Since then, the number of suspected poaching lights on the ridge at night has significantly decreased.
Birds are the weather vane of the ecosystem, and these migratory birds bear witness to ecological changes. Today's Guantouling Mountaintop, the birds of prey are crowded when they migrate in autumn, and there are no more birds of prey falling due to the sound of gunshots, and the ears are full of admiration for watching the beauty of birds of prey soaring: "Wow! Look, it's a golden eagle. ”
The Beihai Golden Bay Mangrove Ecological Reserve has become a home for egrets. Photo by reporter Liu Zheng