Young artists express alarm on white dolphins' pollution plight
A family of three live in an environmental hell, surrounded by used tyres, abandoned fishing nets, food leftovers and polluted water. Eventually, weeping, they have to pack their bags and leave. Others fall ill and are rescued by children who try desperately to find them a doctor.
These are the lives of Chinese white dolphins as depicted by Hong Kong schoolchildren in a drawing competition that attracted 7,000 entries.
So Wing-tung, eight, who won the junior division with her drawing of the pollution-plagued dolphin family, said the marine mammals' plight had made her more environmentally aware.
'My parents, after reading the newspaper, told me about the dolphins' situation. I heard that some of them died due to water pollution,' she said. 'I hope that more people will pay attention and not throw rubbish into the sea.'
Nan Yan-ki, 10, won the senior division with a drawing of two young children cradling a group of sick dolphins.
'The girl in the drawing is not me - she could be any one of us,' said Yan-ki.
Six winners were chosen and rewarded with trips to see dolphins in Chek Lap Kok and Tai O.
