Recently, the Sanniangwan Chinese White Dolphins have been in the news of sorts. An older video of a large pod of Chinese White Dolphins was on Youku's main page; in case you don't know, Youku is China's Youtube.

After a short introduction to the program, we headed to the beach for some "ice-breakers". Of course ice-breakers are great for getting to know any new group of people and are super useful for getting students, young or old, active and ready to learn. After breaking the ice, we moved on to a few other easy games that are flexible and customizable for any situation, such as sea animal charades and pictionary in the sand. Then we had a beach walk to observe, collect and talk about what we found and how to ask the right questions to get students thinking and responding. This was a challenging activity as there are some sealife knowledge and language gaps, however, wokring together, we hope to fill in all of those gaps. We then played a few more games like I-Spy and 20 questions to get everyone observing and asking questions. Finally, on the way back to the Nauture School, we picked up garbage from the beach and talked about setting a good green example for our students and everyone else on the beach. When we returned to the Nature Schhol, teams had to use the garbage they collected to create a sea animal sculpture. The results were fantastic.

After lunch we had a long walk down the beach for two big games that are excellent for marine science classes, beach treasure hunt and the food web game. The beach treasure hunt is great for testing marine life knowledge. The students worked in groups to make lists of marine life, then switched lists and went on the hunt. It was surprising how many strange things could be found. One group though it was really unfair and impossible to find a pufferfish, but they actually found a dead dried-up pufferfish amidst the flotsom and jetsom. Then, we discussed ecosystems and food webs and how to use the food web game for whichever ecosystem is being studied. For this game, the various plant, animal and other roles in an ecosystem are assigned to each person. Then their relationships are discussed and each player is linked to whoever else they eat or are eaten by. Then, once everyone is connected, we discussed the importance of each element and the potential results of losing someone. That player is "killed" because of hunting, habitat loss, or some other real danger and as they leave, and their connections are dropped, the loss of one element of the food web is obvious as the web begins to sag. I always make a point here to point out at this point, the ecosystem is still somewhat intact and fixable, if that animal or plant is brought back, that broken part of the food web fixed. However, if enough key parts of the food web ire missing, the whole system will collapse and won't be fixable. Finally, we headed back to the Nature School to discuss the next day's lesson planning and to get divided into groups. It was a great day.

This morning, we jumped straight into lesson planning. Each group went off on their own to create their own 40 minute lesson, by noon, and then after lunch teach that lesson to a group of 10 local students. They had to do all planning, prepare all materials and practice the lesson on their own. At the half-way mark we met to offer some general tips and suggestions. All of the students quickly jumped into the task; they seemed to be natural teachers. They used some of our ideas from the previous day, however, they easily came up with many great orginal ideas. It was fun to see so much enthusiasm and real interest for conservation education. After checking on progress and a quick lunch, it was time for the lessons to begin.

A group of about 20 local students from 6 to 12 years old came. A few of them were quite shy at first, but all of them seem excited to participate. We divided into groups with 2 teacher groups taking one group of 10 students and Rob, and the other teacher group taking the other 10 students and Mike. The 2 teacher groups took turns teaching and observing. Mike's group started off great with a fun game in the bottom of the dry swimming pool. The students held name cards for different animals and did a silly chant and dance, and then called on another animal to follow them. This was followed by a short nature walk and the food bew game. The students really loved it. Then the teacher groups switched. The second group started with a slideshow of marine life that they had put together in just one night. They then did a small drawing and headed outside for a fun game. That was followed by a team quiz game that they got really involved in.

It was great to see how prepared and confident the four groups were. Rob's groups gathered the students together and played some "getting-to-know-you" activities (ice-breakers). The children were engaged and excited. Each group had their own lesson and plans and used drawing, games, kinesthetic games, and beach exploration. The beach exploration included picking up trash on the beach. The energy and excitement from the children and our new conservation educators was fantastic.

Finally, we all got together in one huge group to hand out prizes and take a group photo. This event was a huge success and we hope to work with our conservation educators and young students again in the not too distant future. Thanks to our trainers, future marine scientists and local students for participating. Thanks especially to Mr. Liao and everyone else at the EBRCC Nature School. Extra special thanks to Anna for being our model student!!!

这些海豚图片是那天陪朋友去打鱼，鱼没有打到几条，但是有两条小河豚不一会儿海豚(Sousa chinensis)游到我们船边，然后从船低经过，一共持续了4次，大约半小时，由于冬季海水能见度很好，所以能够拍到水下的海豚，这叫无心插柳柳成荫。荣杰

These photos were taken on a fishing trip with a friend. We didn't catch much excpet for two puffer fish. Just after catching the puffers, a lone Chinese White Dolphin (Sousa chinensis) swam around and under the boat several times. Luckily the water was clearer than usual. Rong Jie

Cetaceans, dolphins and whales, are large, intelligent, dynamic, social animals. Small cetacean species such as dolphins and porpoises are loved for their speed, agility and “cuteness”. Around the world, they are harvested for meat and accidentally as by-catch in nets or dynamite fishing and are also captured live for entertainment. In East and South-East Asia, here in the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea, they are seen by many fishermen as pests and competitors that steal their potential catch and/or ruin their nets. Even though there are laws protecting many small cetaceans, there is little regulation or policing, and these laws are routinely ignored.

The few surveys of the Gulf of Tonkin and South China Sea (shown below) have collected limited data regarding small cetacean populations, mortality (human or natural) and distribution making conservation difficult.  Conserving small cetacean biodiversity is one of EBRCC priorities. The relatively large and stable population of Chinese White Dolphins (Sousa chinensis) here in Sanniangwan is a well-known, sometimes researched, popular attraction that fuels local tourism. Other populations of Sousa chinensis like the one in Hong Kong are well studied and protected. However, information about China’s small cetaceans, especially species other than Sousa chinensis, is sparse. Without more research, China’s small cetacean biodiversity can not be conserved. We want to support such research. Below is some of the existing research on small cetaceans in East and South-East Asia.

[PDF] Notes on two cetacean surveys in the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam

[PDF] from 137.110.142.7

BD Smith, G Braulik, TA Jefferson… - Raffles Bulletin of …, 2003

A review of the status of the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) in Chinese waters

[PDF] from noaa.gov

TA Jefferson… - Aquatic Mammals, 2004

Records of small cetaceans in Chinese waters: A review

[PDF] from noaa.gov

Z Kaiya, S Leatherwood… - … Kong, 13 April-1 May 1992, 1994

[PDF] Status and conservation of facultative freshwater cetaceans in Asia

[PDF] from 137.110.142.7

BD Smith… - Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2002

[PDF] Global priorities for reduction of cetacean bycatch

[PDF] from cetaceanbycatch.org

RR Reeves, P Berggren, EA Crespo… - World Wildlife …, 2005 - cetaceanbycatch.org

Distribution and conservation of the Indo–Pacific humpback dolphin in China

B CHEN, D ZHENG, G YANG, X XU… - Integrative …, 2009

[PDF] 广西沿海海兽种类研究

孙建运 - 广西科学院学报, 1999

[PDF] 中国水域中华白海豚种群分布现状与保护

王丕烈… - 海洋环境科学, 2007

Hainan Blue-flycatchers (Cyornis hainanus) are just one of the many birds that live around or pass through Sanniangwan.

三娘湾的鸟类多样性非常丰富，山鸟，海鸟，候鸟，等都有。这是三娘湾的海南蓝仙鹟（Cyornis hainanus）。它们比较常见。

What is artisanal fishing? Artisanal fishing is small-scale, family-based fishing that uses traditional and low impact methods for subsistence or small commerical purposes. Artisanal fishing uses fishing techniques such as rod and tackle, harpoons or spears, hand nets and small fishing boats usually from or near shore. Due to the limits of the technology and the small number of people involved, artisanal fishing tends to be less intensive and often, but not always, has a less detrimental effect on ecology and are therefor seen as the prefered "sustainable" way. Most artiisanal fishing is in less developed areas and is often practiced by indigenous peoples along the coast. Since it is less productive in many ways than commercial fishing, it is difficult for artisanal fishers to compete, especially for export markets. 

Sanniangwan is home to many artisanal fisherpeople. Like many traditional fisherpeople, they use small wooden boats, built by local craftsmen, to catch boney fish, using relatively small nets within a few kilometers of shore. They also hand harvest jellyfish, oysters, clams, mussels, sand worms and crabs. Something they do here that  I've never seen done anywhere else is fish for octopus using old pottery and porcelain. They use the bottoms of broken porcelain vases and jars, tied in a line with rope  

EBRCC is deeply concerned with conserving biodiversity. We are also concerned about having only a positive affect on the lives of local people. It is important to help them protect their traditional livlihood and culture, especially if those traditional ways are what actually help conserve local biodiversity. Is it a coincidence that in Sanniangwan, where artisanal fishing hasn't disappeared, the wildlife also hasn't disppeared? Could the areas of China's coast with the least intensive artisanal fishing practices still have the greatest biodiversity? The problem is, we don't know much if anything about local artisanal fishing's impact on marine life, especially the local population of Chinese White Dolphins. Maybe with more research and some education the right balance can be achieved between preserving traditoonal ways of life and protecting local biodiversity. (Mike)

Links

• The economic sustainability of artisanal fisheries: the case of the trawl ban in the Gulf of Castellammare, NW Sicily
• Promoting Poverty Reduction and Community Development Through New WTO Rules on Fisheries Subsidies
• Africa: the artisanal fishing vs. industrial fishing and Tourism
• Bycatch and Discard in Senegalese artisanal and industrial fisheries for Southern Pink Shrimp (Penaeus notialis)

Estuaries are partly enclosed bodies of coastal water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into them. The mix of freshwater and seawater, creates a high nutrient, very productive ecosystem. This richness as well as the intersection of various riverine, coastal and terrestrial habitats make them important areas for biodiversity, creating amazing scenes of unique contrast, monkeys feasting on seafood, huge gatherings of raptors, marine mammals, sharks and rays thriving in freshwater, fish walking on land.  The shallow rich brackish waters of estuaries are ideal for mangrove forests, seagrass beds and oyster reefs, making estuaries vital nursery areas for boney fish, sharks and numerous other marine life, the preferred year-round feeding grounds for creatures such as dugongs, manatees and dolphins and in many places essential layover stops for migratory birds.

The coast of Guangxi along the northern Gulf of Tonkin (Beibuwan) is a weaving repetition of peninsulas and river mouths. There are numerous estuaries just around Sanniangwan. The northern Gulf of Tonkin is a large embayment bound by Vietnam to the East, China’s Guangxi Province to the north and Guangdong’s Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Province to the West. Its lower salinity, 30-32psu, created by numerous river outflows from Guangxi, Hainan Island and Vietnam combined with a shallow continental shelf, much of it less than 100 meters deep, make the northern Gulf of Tonkin one large estuary.

The Eastern Biodiversity Research and Conservation Center in Qinzhou, is an ideal location for estuary research. If you are a researcher or graduate student interested in research in this area, please check out our grants. Contact Mike at easternbiodiversity@yahoo.com

Horseshoe crabs are an ancient group of animals. Modern horseshoe crabs are almost identical to their fossil cousins from over 250 million years ago. These ancient creatures, related to trilobites, scorpions and spiders, were swimming and crawling around the ocean before there were flowering plants or terrestrial vertebrates. One of the reasons I've always loved horseshoe crabs is because just looking at or touching them you can glimpse the deep past. By understanding them better, we can understand the ocean chemistry, climate, predator/prey relationships and more about life on Earth from 250 million years ago. That's awesome!

鲎是一种特别古老的海洋动物。现代的鲎类跟25，000万年前的鲎类差不多以某一样。鲎不是螃蟹，它们是三叶虫，蜘蛛，和蝎子的亲戚。世界上还没有开花植物或陆地脊椎动物已经有鲎。我自己一直觉得鲎很有意思因为一碰到它们就在碰到古代。理解它们，我们可以发现古老的地球是什么样的地方，以前的生态系统，气候，海洋化学都是设么样子。这个动物泰邦！

Today there are four species of horseshoe crab.  现代有4种鲎。

• Genus Carcinoscorpius
  • Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda, the mangrove horseshoe crab, found in Southeast Asia ,  圆尾鲎, 生活,在东南亚
• Genus Limulus
  • Limulus polyphemus, the Atlantic horseshoe crabfound along the northwest Atlantic coast and in the Gulf of Mexico, 美洲鲎, 生活在北美的大西洋和墨西哥湾
• Genus Tachypleus
  • Tachypleus gigas, found in South and Southeast Asia, 巨鲎生活东南亚    
  • Tachypleus tridentatus, found along East Asian coasts,  东方鲎生活在东亚洲

They also have an amazing anatomy; they look like spider tanks. Their top-side(dorsal) is hard armor, their bottom-side(ventral) is like a spider and then they have that long spikey tail. If I lived in the past and needed armor and weapons, I would have made them from horsehsoe crab carapaces. Horseshoe crab physiology is also amazing. Their hemolymph (arthropod blood) reacts to foreign bodies in a very unique way and is used to create LAL, a compound used to detect  bacterial contamination in drugs and medicine.

鲎的身体十分奇怪；像一个蜘蛛坦克。上部是很硬的甲子，腹部是很多虫腿，后面是一个长长尖尖刺刺的尾巴。我住在古代时候的话，我会用它们的壳做成一套盔甲。鲎的生理机能也非常了不起。因为它们的血淋巴（节肢动物的血）有一个可以发现细菌的功能，用它们的血`可以做一个化合物叫LAL专门用发现被`细菌感染的药物。

The Atlantic Horseshoe Crab has been well studied and conservation measures are already being taken that will ensure their survival. However, information about the three Asian species is lacking. To further the understanding of the three Asian species, The International Workshop on the Science and Conservation of Horseshoe Crabs will be held in Hong Kong from June 13-16, 2011. This is a great opportunity to learn more about and support the conservation of these amazing creatures.

• To learn more about Horseshoe Crabs, visit this amazing site!

关于美洲鲎的知识很多，研究和的时间已经很长，保护成功。但关于亚洲的三种类的知识很少。为了理解和保护亚洲的鲎，2011年6月13-16日在香港有一个"鲎类科学和保护工作会"。

• 要多了解一下鲎的话去看这个网站(全英文）

（Mike ）

Last month we went out to photograph one of the local pods of Chinese White Dolphins (Sousa chinensis). Near some fishing boats that had been doing dynamite fishing, there was a small pod of several dolphins. One of the dolphins was pushing around the limp body of a baby dolphin. Another dolphin, and then another, came along to help, each putting their rostrum under the baby trying to hold it up at the surface. ~Rong Jie

 我非常荣幸，关于死去的小海豚，那天看见先是一只海豚把小海豚拱出水面，试图让它能够呼吸，稍后它们一起消失在海里，不到1分钟有两个海豚又将它拱出海面，稍后又一只海豚加入这次拯救行动，最终以失败告终。~荣杰

Last week, we went on a short walk around a small mangrove swamp on the eastern side of the peninsula along the mouth of the Dafeng River, just across from Beihai. The local kids were great and followed us on our little scouting trip. The tide was low and the mud was filled with junk and garbage. On the side of the dyke, opposite the mangroves, were ponds that the kids said were for raising mud skippers, which they claim are quite delicious. During winter the ponds are drained and dredged. There was only one stray fish hiding in the mud.  (Mike)

上周我们在半岛东边大风河岸上的沙角 村小红树林观光，就在北海对面。几个小伙子跟着我们搜索。低潮的泥巴到处是垃圾。堤的另外一边都是鱼塘，小伙子跟我们讲平时有弹涂鱼但现在没水。冬天时要用疏浚及疏塘地的泥巴。只有一条弹涂鱼藏在泥巴里。（Mike）

 The other day we found this skull on the beach just 100 meters from the Center. At first I thought it was a Chinese White Dolphin (Sousa chinensis), but when we took it back to the Center, Director Liao said it was a Finless Porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides). Both of these species are often killed as bycatch or in collisions with boats or their propellors in Sanniang Wan.  Mike