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The presence of Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera edeni) in the Beibu Gulf, China has been reported since 2016. In the current study, in situ Bryde's whale vocalizations were recorded. Bouts of frequency modulated repetitive and diversified calls were recorded. Repetitive calls were recorded when 1–3 whales were present within 2 km of the boat and were probably emitted by a single whale and functioned as contact calls. Repetitive calls were divided into biphonation downswept tonals and downswept tonals. Diversified calls were recorded when 4–7 whales were present within 2 km of the boat and were probably associated with acoustic exchanges between or among conspecifics. Diversified calls occasionally contained inflection points, frequency jumps, and break point features. The frequency band of Bryde's whale vocalizations overlapped highly with background noise. Most vocalizations in the current study were different than those previously reported for this species. Therefore, the findings of this study provide more information on the known acoustic repertoire of Bryde's whales and provide a basis for noninvasive monitoring of Bryde's whale with passive acoustic methods and for developing mitigation and conservation protocols to ensure their future viability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 14 currently recognized baleen whales (Committee on Taxonomy [8]), the Bryde's whale ( I Balaenoptera edeni i ) is provisionally recognized as one species with two subspecies: the smaller Eden's whale, I B. e. edeni i and the larger Bryde's whale, I B. e. brydei i (Rice 1998, Rosel and Wilcox [30], Committee on Taxonomy [8], Cooke and Brownell [9]). Here, we assumed the baleen whale the fishermen encountered was the Bryde's whale, because the Bryde's whale is thus far the only baleen whale species reported in the Beibu Gulf (Smith I et al i . All fishermen who sighted a whale indicated the whale was as long as the length of their boat, 10-12 m (the size of a mature Bryde's whale). Of the 62 fishermen who sighted whales, 42 (68% of whale sightings, or 59% of interviewees) encountered trap-feeding behavior that is characteristic to the Bryde's whale. [Extracted from the article]

The article reports that humpback dolphins are found on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Dolphines found in Xiamen, China, and Kinmen, Taiwan, which are situated in adjoining waters within Xiamen Bay, belong to the same population. It provides evidence to prove that they belong to the same population.

Poyang Lake is the largest freshwater lake in China and flows into the Yangtze River. It is a traditional habitat for the endangered Yangtze finless porpoise, which has not been well investigated. To reveal the distribution of the porpoise in Poyang Lake, 12 passive acoustic surveys were conducted along 123 km of the main channel of the lake during different seasons (spring transition season, wet season, autumn transition season, and dry season) from 2008 to 2012. We counted the number of phonating porpoises encountered and calculated the detection rate (encountered individuals detected per kilometer). The median porpoise detection rates ranged from 0 to 0.65 individuals per kilometer during the different surveys. The highest median detection rate of 0.50 was detected in the autumn transition season. The seasonal shrinking of the lake during the dry season may cause a concentration of porpoises in the narrow channels and a high incidence of collisions with cargo ships and fishing boats. Conservation actions should be focused on the main channel of the lake during the dry and transition seasons. In addition, the expansion of the existing reserve to include areas with high porpoise detection rates is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]