February 3 pm， Dr。 Wang Ding and his colleagues went to the ShiShou Tian’ezhou Nature Reserve to help workers break the ice in the area。
Shishou City nature reserve of Hubei Province is more than 20 kilometers long with a width that ranges from 400 to 1，500 meters。 It has a surface of nearly 2，000 hectares。 From the beginning of 1992， when it was established as a finless porpoise haven， there has been a population of about 30 finless porpoises with a birth of at least 2 to 3 baby porpoises every year。 Tian’ezhou is the world‘s only successful cetaceans ex situ conservation site。 Since late February， due to continuous snowfall， the average temperature was below zero， and the Tian’ezhou waters froze， preventing finless porpoises from surfacing for air。 The reserve staff dispatched two motorboats daily to break the ice， and the finless porpoises have not been seriously affected。 However， on the morning of February 3rd， temperatures plunged， causing the entire surface of protected areas to almost be entirely frozen。 Finless porpoises are mammals， and therefore surface ice is a fatal danger to them。
The same morning， Dr。 Wang Ding received emergency telephone from the reserve staff and immediately left with a group of colleagues to Tian’ezhou。 Wang Ding and technical staff of protected areas developed an ice-breaking programme to have boats break the ice every hour of the day for an entire week while observing the condition of the finless porpoise。