Standing on the side of a boat, Liang Zeye whistles several times as usual to let the finless porpoises know that he has arrived. However, none of the finless porpoises show up, making Liang frown and worry.

A 49-year-old former fisherman, Liang became a guardian of the East Asian finless porpoises 13 years ago. At 8 a.m., he set off in his boat to the waters near Haxian Island in Changhai, a border island county composed of 195 islands in northeast China's Liaoning Province, to check on their health conditions and give them an extra nutritious meal as they are in their breeding season.

Just when he was worried that he would not be able to see them due to the bad weather, he spotted a familiar figure coming toward him.

"It's 'Little Grey,'" Liang said excitedly, pointing toward a finless porpoise above the waves. Last year, Little Grey's mother, the first finless porpoise Liang knew, passed away. The sad baby regards him as a family member, waiting for him every day. This year, Little Grey is almost 4 years old. He turned mature, found his partner and started a new life.

"Being with the finless porpoises for a long time, we share our feelings with each other. When they're not in the mood, I'll amuse them, and they'll get happy. When I'm upset, they do the same thing," Liang said with a smile on his face.

Little Grey is just one of the over 1,000 East Asian finless porpoises that Liang has meticulously tracked and safeguarded. Over the past 13 years, he has searched for finless porpoises more than 70 times a year.

As it is now the breeding season, a critical period for the finless porpoise, he doubles down on the safeguard. He calls on the villagers to join him in checking for fishing trotlines and pots that threaten their survival, and he plans to invest money in building an artificial reef to provide a safe habitat with abundant food.

His commitment to finless porpoise conservation was inspired by his first encounter with the species in 1979. 

Growing up in a fishing family on the island, he has always shared a profound bond with the sea and marine creatures. "I was introduced to the world of finless porpoises by my grandfather when I was just 5 years old. Back then, the whole area was covered with finless porpoises. It was very spectacular," he said. 

However, the finless porpoises gradually disappeared due to the overexploitation of marine resources in later decades. 

In 2009, he saw three finless porpoises for the first time in 30 years, which was like a ray of light at his lowest point at that time. It was then that he decided to protect these beautiful but fragile creatures.

He transitioned from commercial fishing to marine tourism, placing emphasis on both economic gains and ecological conservation. He secured a contract for a 33-hectare sea area frequented by finless porpoises to more effectively safeguard them.

"The ocean gives us human beings a chance to survive, providing a lot of food. For a long time, we fishermen have taken a lot from the ocean, but now I want to develop this industry to give back to the ocean," he said.

Listed as an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2017, the East Asian finless porpoise holds the distinction of being the smallest cetacean species inhabiting the waters from the Taiwan Straits to the northern expanse of the Yellow Sea.

In recent years, Changhai County has also implemented a range of protective measures for the marine environment and fishery resources, including the deployment of artificial reefs, the restoration of seaweed beds, and the meticulous monitoring of the marine ranch environment.

Thanks to ecological improvements and increased species conservation efforts, Liang has witnessed a steady rise in the population of the East Asian finless porpoises in the area over the past few years, climbing from 80 in 2017 to more than 400 by 2023.

(If you have specific expertise and want to contribute, or if you have a topic of interest that you'd like to share with us, please email us at nature@cgtn.com.)