Fears over airport ferry route threat to Chinese white dolphins

Environment advisers have urged the Airport Authority to consider opening up another high-speed ferry route from the SkyPier to ease traffic in a proposed diversion further north that will cut through the key habitat of Chinese white dolphins.

The current route proposed in the authority's management plan diverts all Zhuhai and Macau-bound ferries north and northwest from Lantau Island and through a narrow corridor between north Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park and the Urmston Road anchorage area.

Improvement to SkyPier traffic was one of the conditions imposed by the Advisory Council on the Environment after endorsing the authority's environmental impact assessment for the third runway project last year.

The authority plans to cap the average daily traffic to 99 and create a 15-knot speed control zone between the marine park and anchorage site. Only Macau and Zhuhai ferries will be affected.

Transport analyst and council member Dr Hung Wing-tat called the plan "stupid" as they were essentially creating a new route through an area rarely used by any other marine vessels, while a recent government study found the area to have the highest density of dolphins off Lantau.

The council meeting concluded yesterday with suggestions to open up a southern route - between the marine park and runway site - and for all high-speed ferries plying the northern route to be subject to speed controls.