NANJING, Nov. 22 -- The population of finless porpoises in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River is stable and increasing, according to a survey conducted by the environmental monitoring center in east China's Jiangsu Province.

Between Nov. 7 and 14, staff with the center spotted and monitored finless porpoises 86 times in the Jiangsu section.

During the survey, the staff also collected environmental DNA from water samples for analysis, so as to have a better understanding of the activities of the Yangtze finless porpoise population in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River.

The Yangtze finless porpoise, which is under top-level state protection in China, is an important indicator of the health of the Yangtze River ecology.

This species can only be found in the middle and lower main streams of the Yangtze River.