Ocean

Zheng Ruiqiang and the dolphins of Shantou

In this exclusive video, we talk to scientist Zheng Ruiqiang about the dangers facing China’s small populations of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins
English

Zheng Ruiqiang is a marine biologist based at Shantou University in southern China. He’s been studying Indo-Pacific humpbacks for the past ten years. Often referred to as the Chinese white dolphin, the species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN’s Red List. The populations that still survive along China’s busy coastline are particularly threatened, despite their importance in Chinese culture as a “treasure of the sea”. Since moving to Shantou University in 2017, Zheng has been focusing his research on the small group of dolphins that live in the harbour’s shallow waters. He knows each individual well: one is missing most of its tail after a ship strike, another has lost both of the two calves she’s given birth to over the past few years. In this interview, Zheng shares his concerns for the group’s future and the measures needed to protect them.


Production credits:

Directed by Yao Dewei
Filmed by Li Zengchang
Camera assisted by Yuan Xiangfa
Lighting by Chang Liming
Driving by Xi Tao
Edited by Bonnie Au
Produced by Lizi Hesling

Thanks to:

The Hong Kong Ocean Park Conservation Foundation
The Paradise International Foundation

Music:

The Gloaming” by Chad Crouch, CC BY NC
The star of Bethlehem” by TRG Banks, CC 0
Lemonade” by Chad Crouch, CC BY NC
November” by Kai Engel, CC BY
October” by Kai Engel, CC BY

This video is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial licence. For a copy of the video file or a clipreel of the footage used, please contact us at: [email protected].

Cookies Settings

Dialogue Earth uses cookies to provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser. It allows us to recognise you when you return to Dialogue Earth and helps us to understand which sections of the website you find useful.

Required Cookies

Required Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

Dialogue Earth - Dialogue Earth is an independent organisation dedicated to promoting a common understanding of the world's urgent environmental challenges. Read our privacy policy.

Cloudflare - Cloudflare is a service used for the purposes of increasing the security and performance of web sites and services. Read Cloudflare's privacy policy and terms of service.

Functional Cookies

Dialogue Earth uses several functional cookies to collect anonymous information such as the number of site visitors and the most popular pages. Keeping these cookies enabled helps us to improve our website.

Google Analytics - The Google Analytics cookies are used to gather anonymous information about how you use our websites. We use this information to improve our sites and report on the reach of our content. Read Google's privacy policy and terms of service.

Advertising Cookies

This website uses the following additional cookies:

Google Inc. - Google operates Google Ads, Display & Video 360, and Google Ad Manager. These services allow advertisers to plan, execute and analyze marketing programs with greater ease and efficiency, while enabling publishers to maximize their returns from online advertising. Note that you may see cookies placed by Google for advertising, including the opt out cookie, under the Google.com or DoubleClick.net domains.

Twitter - Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what you find interesting. Simply find the accounts you find compelling and follow the conversations.

Facebook Inc. - Facebook is an online social networking service. China Dialogue aims to help guide our readers to content that they are interested in, so they can continue to read more of what they enjoy. If you are a social media user, then we are able to do this through a pixel provided by Facebook, which allows Facebook to place cookies on your web browser. For example, when a Facebook user returns to Facebook from our site, Facebook can identify them as part of a group of China Dialogue readers, and deliver them marketing messages from us, i.e. more of our content on biodiversity. Data that can be obtained through this is limited to the URL of the pages that have been visited and the limited information a browser might pass on, such as its IP address. In addition to the cookie controls that we mentioned above, if you are a Facebook user you can opt out by following this link.

Linkedin - LinkedIn is a business- and employment-oriented social networking service that operates via websites and mobile apps.