HONG KONG, Oct 18 — Rare pink dolphins are returning to the waters between Hong Kong and Macau after the coronavirus pandemic halted ferries, but scientists remain deeply concerned about their long-term survival in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes. The tell-tale flash of pink leaping from...
Sunday, 18 Oct 2020 09:17 AM MYT
The tell-tale flash of pink leaping from the waters alerts Naomi Brennan to the presence of a local Chinese white dolphin and she jots the animal’s location into a GPS device. The population has fallen by 70-80 per cent in the past 15 years in what is one of the world’s most industrialised estuaries.Ferries between Hong Kong and Macau have been suspended since February, providing local marine scientists an opportunity to study how the mammals have adapted to the “unprecedented quiet”.
“These areas seem to be important for feeding and socialising. So it’s great that there’s this refuge for them,” added Brennan, a member of Porter’s team.The Pearl River Delta is one of the most industrialised coastal areas on Earth. As well as Hong Kong and Macau, it includes Chinese mainland megacities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan, and is home to some 22 million people.
“Dolphins, and especially these estuarine dolphins, have a slow birth rate, a slow growth rate, a slow reproductive rate,” said Laurence McCook, head of oceans conservation at WWF-Hong Kong. The lack of ferries is a welcome, but potentially brief, respite for the dolphins.The ships also pose the physical threat of striking the creatures, injuring and even killing them.
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