Characteristic

The Taiwanese white dolphin, also known as the Taiwanese Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis).These dolphins are eight or nine feet long with a relatively small dorsal fin, but their most distinctive characteristic is their pink coloration. Their skin pigment is actually white, with gray spots, but when they are active, they “flush” and turn bright pink. They are born dark gray with no spots, but get lighter and more spotted as they age.

Habitat

Its total distribution covers roughly 750 km², but the core distribution comprises only about 330 km² in a narrow strip of habitat about 110 km long, stretching from Tongshiao, Miaoli County, to Taixi, Yunlin County (Wang et al. 2016a), but see Wang et al. (2017) for correction of core distribution). The majority of sightings have been made in waters less than 20 m deep and within 3 km of shore, but individuals have been known to cross deep (>30 m) shipping channels in inshore waters that have been dredged (Dares et al. 2014).

External crisis

(1) fisheries interactions

(2) habitat degradation and loss

(3) air and water pollution

(4) reduction of freshwater outflow into estuaries

(5) noise disturbance

Conservation

Taiwan ban all gillnet and trammel net fishing within all identified confirmed and suitable dolphin habitat, enforce the pre-existing ban on trawling within 3 nm (or about 5.5 km) of shore, compensate the affected fishers and support fishers in transitioning to more dolphin-friendly fisheries (i.e. hook and line) (Ross et al. 2015).

Citation:

https://iucn-csg.org/csg-special-projects/eastern-taiwan-strait-humpback-dolphins/

https://awionline.org/content/taiwanese-white-dolphin