A hi-tech solution to tracking China’s shrinking white dolphin population

The Pearl River estuary is home to the world’s largest population of the endangered Chinese white dolphin, with more than 2,500 individuals found in the region. Under first-class state protection in China, the number of Chinese white dolphins has been falling caused by several overlapping human activities, including noise pollution, loss of habitat and food as well as land reclamation. Staff at a mainland Chinese national reserve have intensified the monitoring of the Chinese white dolphin in a water area in southern Guangdong province, using hi-tech unmanned boats and passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) system to monitor the dolphin’s activity.