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First live sighting of an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) in the Yellow Sea, the northern-most record of the species range

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2022

Wenzhi Lin Open the ORCID record for Wenzhi Lin [Opens in a new window] ,
Lan Wu ,
Qianhui Zeng ,
Xiaoyu Leng ,
Yaqian Mo ,
Agathe Serres  and
Songhai Li Open the ORCID record for Songhai Li [Opens in a new window]
Wenzhi Lin
Affiliation:
Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China
Lan Wu
Affiliation:
School of Ecology and Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China
Qianhui Zeng
Affiliation:
Laboratory of Marine Biology and Ecology, Third Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Xiamen, China
Xiaoyu Leng
Affiliation:
Bureau of Natural Resources, Dalian, China
Yaqian Mo
Affiliation:
Environmental Development Center, Whole Person Education Office, Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, Zhuhai, China
Agathe Serres
Affiliation:
Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China
Songhai Li*
Affiliation:
Marine Mammal and Marine Bioacoustics Laboratory, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya, China
*
Author for correspondence: Songhai Li, E-mail: lish@idsse.ac.cn
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Abstract

An opportunistic sighting of an Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) was reported in the nearshore waters off the east Liaodong Peninsula, China. This is the first at-sea sighting in this area, and the northern-most sighting record of this species with a distance >3000 km away from the nearest described conspecific population located in the mid-China. The present sighting occurred in close proximity to the location at which another Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin was found by-caught in 2003. The sighted individual could not be identified through the existing photo-identification catalogues of this species in China (>3500 individuals). Therefore, we suggest that a population of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins that was never reported might exist in the north of the Yellow Sea.

Keywords

Genus Sousahumpback dolphinLiaoningtemperate waters
Type
Marine Record
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 102 , Issue 5 , August 2022 , pp. 333 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom

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