Topic
The Chinese white dolphin (Sousa chinensis) inhabits the waters of Southeast Asia and is a humpback dolphin species. Its body length is 2 - 3.5m (6ft 7in - 11ft 6in) for adults and 1m (3ft 3in) for infants. At birth, the dolphins are black but they change to grey, then pinkish with spots when young. By the time they reach adulthood they are white. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Chinese white dolphin was first recorded in Hong Kong waters as early as the 1600s and its habitat spans the Pearl River Estuary.
Animals susceptible to being trapped in abandoned fishing nets, hit by ship propellers and affected by noise from ship engines.
The latest Irrawaddy dolphin death spotlighted the need for law enforcement of illegal fishing activities to save the species.
Wildlife group calls on government to divert cross-border ferry operations in the Southern Lantau Fairway.
In Hong Kong in 2021, just two Chinese white dolphins washed up dead, down from 11 a year earlier. Fewer finless porpoises washed up dead too. But other threats to both creatures remain, experts say.
Readers discuss the Hong Kong government’s biodiversity efforts, how to improve access to Covid-19 records, and the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Annual government report finds nearly half of all newborns fail to survive beyond two years, for a species whose numbers have already been decimated.
Underwater noise from marine traffic affects the critically endangered dolphins’ ability to hunt and communicate, explains documentary maker Daphne Wong in her new film, Sea Of Noise.
Animal seen in Xi River in Guangxi could be at risk if it is unable to return to open waters, news report says.
Green groups warn pollution will return unless city does more to change harmful behaviours.
Annual population surveys of the endangered dolphins conducted by the two bodies routinely deliver vastly different results.
More than two decades after the Chinese white dolphin had its moment in the spotlight as the mascot of the Hong Kong handover, scientists have come together to save the iconic marine mammal.
Conservationists propose prioritising ‘core’ protection zones that ban fishing and development, as well as the creation of three buffer zones.
Thunberg embodies the huge moral authority of the youth activist movement that no world leader can ignore, and this will fundamentally change the decision-making process in climate-change lobbying.
Struggling tour operator Dolphin Watch appeals to locals and visitors to help it stay in business.
From picking up litter to recycling soap to giving food to Hong Kong’s needy, here are six ways to volunteer in the city. You can also work to save Hong Kong’s dolphins or help out at the Jane Goodall Institute.
Canadian International School of Hong Kong trio have organised a two-day summit on marine conservation in Hong Kong this weekend, and hope to inspire their peers to devote themselves to the issue.
The Hong Kong Science Museum is playing host to a digital installation showcasing five types of whale and dolphin in a ‘virtual aquarium’.
Aquariums cannot offer dolphins the space they need to thrive and often train them using cruel practices.
Chinese Ministry of Agriculture says population of mammal ‘basically stable’ after building of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, but Hong Kong counterparts find numbers in water off Lantau Island have almost halved.
For almost 40 years, Lung Kwu Tan has hosted heavy industry, incinerators and landfills, making the local environment a shadow of its former self. Now a plan has been floated to reclaim 250 hectares of nearby sea, which villagers say would be the final nail in the coffin.
China restricts reclamation but Hong Kong ploughs ahead with plans for more, citing a housing crisis; scientists warn of the impact on Pearl River Delta’s ecology and the survival of the Chinese white dolphin in Hong Kong waters.
New government report shows population stuck at historic low, and that the pink marine mammals are avoiding areas of major construction and high-speed ferries near Lantau Island’s northeast.
Environmental assessment is submitted to authorities and put up for public review, but green group says plan will undermine effectiveness of marine park.