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Wednesday, July 5, 2006 - Hong Kong’s Pink Dolphins: A Disappearing Beauty
By Michael Ezawa
My name is Mike Ezawa. I am 18 years of age, and will soon be attending Raritan Valley in New Jersey to begin studying for a future career in marine mammal (particularly dolphin) conservation and protection. I visited Hong Kong from June 25, 2006 to June 30, 2006 to see these pink dolphins as well as document Ocean Park, where dolphins from directed captures are used for display and shows.

Next time you’re headed out to China or Hong Kong, be sure to get yourself on a boat to see this very rare dolphin species; the dreadful possibility lingers that such an opportunity may soon be non-existent.

Not much is known about this species of dolphin, as detailed research was basically absent until the 1990s.  With the exception of a certain number of individual dolphins, they were unknown to the world, and even to some of the humans who lived on the nearby islands.  All this was until construction of the Chek Lap Kok airport began in the early 90s, a project which destroyed an island which laid in the very heart of these dolphins’ critical habitat.

The building of the Chek Lap Kok airport  was seen as an engineering phenomenon, and it even earned a slot on The History Channel’s “Modern Marvels.”  But the immediate and lasting effects of its creation were extremely devastating for Hong Kong’s beloved pink dolphins.  The new facility, nine square kilometers in size, required a concreting of some of the nearby seas. 

The lethal instant effects were noticed by a number of airport construction workers while the place was being built.  A large sum of the kills between 1993-1997 were reported by the workers.  Prior to the project, between 1989-1992, a total of seven deaths were confirmed in the area.  In the first two years of the construction alone, that number increased by more than 200%.  And, tragically, it got even worse the next two years.  Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Limited has said that, based upon local population estimates, damage cut the total number of these dolphins by an alarming 75%.

Now, with the airport completely built and fully functional, some may perceive the threat as being over.  But the chemicals released into the sea by the project, as well as other toxic contaminants, have had lingering, and even deadlier aftereffects.  In the years 2003-04, 24 pink dolphins have been reported dead in the local area alone.  Every recent year, near half of the casualties, sadly, have been newborn calves. 

The chemicals compiled by the mother dolphins over her years of life filtered into her milk, and, with a baby needing milk to feed upon, and the fact that a dolphin mother’s milk is nearly 40% fat, it can essentially be labeled as poison.  Indeed, in this disappearing dolphins’ world, mothers are literally killing their calves by trying to nourish and care for them, and they can have no idea they are doing it.

But what can we do to help them now?  You can’t just tear down the airport and change things back to the way they were before, obviously.  But, there are additional threats to these fading marine mammals that can be reduced.  Over fishing, fishery by-catch, heavy sea traffic, a horrid amount of pollution, and about two million tons of sewage poured into Hong Kong’s waters daily are all things that can be helped. 

A good website for information about these pink dolphins and their threats:
www.hkdolphinwatch.com

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