Strict regulations create conditions for finless porpoises to find way back home

In early April, Shen Fan, a photographer from Anqing, Anhui province, was pleased to spot several pods of finless porpoises piloting their way along a stretch of the Yangtze River.

The mammals — dubbed "water pandas" because they are critically endangered and actually rarer than giant pandas — have been placed under protection by various government initiatives.

The country's first regional regulation on protecting the Yangtze finless porpoise was passed by the Anqing people's congress and came into force on Jan 1, 2021.