The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong
Got it!
Little finless porpoises also shed their fetal skin
June 24th
Yichang Yangtze River dolphin conservation volunteer Yang He
![The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/ec14cafc7bae65ce52037572bff2176b.jpg)
Excitedly told the reporter of Changjiang Daily
He observed and captured the newly born finless porpoise this year
The entire process of "609" molting
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![The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/d806fa42d3259d2daefa4b74503b482a.jpg)
Small finless porpoise body side
Starting to appear as "white flowers"
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On the body of the little finless porpoise
![The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/ef0b3b217e52b4c14bd21444a58e6f5e.jpg)
The "spots" are more pronounced now
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The fetal skin of the little finless porpoise
Starting to molt off one by one
![The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/630c8c7ac7f71596de16f710d717cfa1.jpg)
Becoming a "flower finless porpoise"
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After the little finless porpoise molts off its fetal skin
Skin becomes smoother and more rounded
![The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/f71088d35c5ed26a7b60d4eb6c21618f.jpg)
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"In the first half of this year, a total of two small finless porpoises were born in the Yangtze River section of Yichang. One of them was born around June 9th, and our finless porpoise volunteer team named it '609'. This little finless porpoise is very beautiful and clever," Yang He introduced.
He squatted continuously for half a month, recording the bits and pieces of this new life. On June 17th, he discovered that a beautiful "white flower" appeared on the side of "609" on the 8th day after birth. In the following days, more "spots" appeared on its body, gradually turning into "spotted dolphins". On June 23rd, the white spots on "609", who was born about half a month ago, all disappeared and its skin became smoother and more rounded.
On the 24th, Dr. Hao Yujiang, associate researcher of the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and executive deputy secretary-general of the Wuhan Baiji Porpoise Conservation Foundation, confirmed that this is a molting process experienced by the Yangtze finless porpoise after birth, which is a normal physiological phenomenon.
![The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/a542383096946cddde4c87ac73bd4764.jpg)
The pufferfish usually begins to molt in the second week after birth, with some parts blistering and turning white, then bulging and breaking like a "white flower", gradually expanding to multiple parts until a layer of skin naturally falls off. The entire process can take as short as 3-5 days and as long as one week.
This molted skin is slightly black and thick, with thicker areas reaching 2-3 millimeters and thinner areas reaching approximately 1 millimeter. After molting, the new skin becomes very beautiful.
In front of Yang He's camera, another little finless porpoise born earlier this year has also experienced the process of molting from a spotted porpoise to a round one.
Hao Yujiang confirmed that this set of images from Yanghe is the first complete record of the molting process of finless porpoises in the natural waters of the Hubei section of the Yangtze River.
![The finless porpoise molts its skin! A rare scene in the middle of the river, first captured in white | speckled | Jiangzhong](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/8942d4295b341b5c443980e1adb58fe2.jpg)