Reading Chuang / Shenzhen Business Daily reporter Zhang Yan Ding Ziang
On July 4, the 6th day of the activities of the "Xiaobu" whale "Xiaobu" in Dapeng Bay, the reporter followed the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Linkage Working Group of Dapeng New Area to the sea for interviews, and recorded many pictures of "Xiaobu" predation. After several days of observation, the researchers analyzed the 4 kinds of fish that "Xiaobu" likes to eat in Dapeng Bay, and calculated that it needs to prey on about 180 kilograms of food every day to fill its stomach.
At 9:00 a.m., the blue sea of Dapeng Bay is clear, and many small fish are moving downstream in the mirror-like sea, and if there are big fish chasing, the small fish will jump out of the sea. Under the guardianship of China's Fishery Administration No. 44101, not far away, "Xiaobu" is also "drying rice" with peace of mind. Every time he surfaced to hunt, the "little cloth" would open its mouth 90 degrees, or even larger, and then close it after "sucking" a full school of fish, and then turn around, first exposing the pink abdomen, then exposing the black back ridge, and then jumping into the sea.
△ "Xiaobu" is preying, and China Fishery Administration No. 44101 has been moored near the shore to guard the Bu's whale.
Liao Baolin, a senior engineer at the Shenzhen Research Institute of Guangdong Ocean University, said that cetaceans are very intelligent, and they have a lot of predation skills, such as spitting bubbles on the seabed, surrounding the fish into a large group, and swallowing them in one bite; and also using their tails to stun the fish and then eat. After several days of observation, researchers found that "Xiaobu" seems to be a refusal to eat, but in fact, its favorite "food" in Dapeng Bay is mainly 4 kinds of fish, namely oil fish, spotted dumplings, sardines, and ridged anchovies.
△ "Xiaobu" loves four favorite foods
Researchers also estimated the length, weight and other characteristics of the "small cloth". The "small cloth" is about seven or eight meters long and weighs about five or six tons, and the daily food intake of cetaceans and dolphins should reach 2% to 3% of the body weight, so it is estimated that the "small cloth" will eat 180 kilograms of fish every day. Every round of predation, the "little cloth" would be exposed to the surface of the water four or five times, until it was full, and then it turned around and returned to the bottom of the sea.
At the same time, according to the length, weight and body shape of the "small cloth", as well as the preference for nearshore activities and other characteristics, the "small cloth" is most likely a small Bruce whale, but the specific species still needs to be further identified. At present, it is also controversial whether the two whales are the same species in classification, but there are differences in appearance and habits. The main difference between the two is that the baby Bruce's whale is smaller in size, about 11 to 12 meters long, and the spray is shorter, only 1 to 2 meters, with a V-shaped head with five ridges on its head, which may suddenly appear on the side of the boat. The adult bryoe whale is larger, about 14 meters long, with a higher spray of 3 to 4 meters, a U-shaped head with three ridges on its head, often far from boats.
The "xiaobu" is only about 10 meters away from the closest boat taken by the reporter, and it has also been hunted with its mouth open at the bow of the Chinese Fishery Administration No. 44101, which is obviously more in line with the characteristics of the small Britts whale.
On the 4th, the cetacean and dolphin protection linkage working group in Dapeng New Area was still multi-departmental and continued to guard the "small cloth". At the same time, Dapeng Bay spans Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and as one of the initiators of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Marine Protection Alliance established in Dapeng New Area at the beginning of this year, the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Association issued an initiative to Hong Kong citizens: First, please do not approach the citizens and crew, do not watch, do not feed, and try to detour. Second, professional aquatic wildlife conservation research institutions should also try to maintain a boat distance of more than 100 meters from animals, and do not track for a long time. Third, the ship propeller is easy to cause damage to animals, and ship noise will also cause disturbance to animals, please keep ships traveling at low speed through relevant seas.
Review: Sun Shijian