Poster for the animated series. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

A new animated series centered on the endangered Yangtze finless porpoise made its synchronized television and online debut tonight, marking the latest cultural export from Nantong, Jiangsu province.

The Yangtze Finless Porpoise Vanguard: Jiangling's Guardian Journey, a 10-episode ecological science animation produced by a Nantong-based studio, premiered simultaneously on Jiangsu's Youman Cartoon TV and the streaming platform Youku.

The show follows the adventures of the Yangtze finless porpoises, Chinese high-fin banded sharks and other endemic aquatic species, translating a decade of ecological restoration along the Yangtze River into compelling narratives on screen.

Yangtze finless porpoises are spotted swimming in the Nantong section of the Yangtze River. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The creative inspiration draws directly from Nantong's own environmental turnaround. The city, which commands 166 kilometers of the Yangtze River front, has been at the forefront of the "great protection" campaign that has reshaped the river's industrial corridors.

Once-bustling areas filled with chemical plants and heavy industry have been transformed into landscaped public waterfront spaces, with forest coverage around the Langshan Mountain Scenic Area rising sharply and water quality along the Nantong section of the Yangtze River showing sustained improvement. The returning presence of finless porpoises in local waters, once a rare sight, has become a living barometer of the river's recovery and the direct catalyst for the series.