I went dolphin watching on Friday not far from Hong Kong in the South China Sea and saw perhaps 30 pink dolphins. That’s right they were really pink – as pink as a pig!
When they came up for a breath and jumped out of the water it wasn’t for long and I didn’t manage to get any good photographs but this is what they looked like:
Photo scanned (with permission) from a Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Ltd. postcard, visit http://www.hkdolphinwatch.com.
On Friday the water didn’t look so blue. It was a murky green and our guide told us full of pollution from the Pearl River. I didn’t have any equipment for testing water quality, but the air quality was poor. This trawler emerged like a ghost ship from the smog-haze hanging over us at 11am in the morning:
The pink dolphins belong to the species Sousa chinensis also known as Indo-Pacific Humpback dolphins with a range extending throughout south east Asia and also northern Australia. Through most of its range the species is the more usual grey colour.
These Hong Kong dolphins are born grey, but mature to the pretty pink colour. Here’s a picture of a mother with its greyish baby:
Photo scanned (with permission) from a Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Ltd. postcard, visit http://www.hkdolphinwatch.com.
The dolphins suckle their young for about 3 years.
Our guide suggested there were about 1,000 of these pink dolphins off Hong Kong when they were last surveyed in 1997. She indicated that there had been no survey since but that she feared numbers were declining her biggest concern water pollution from mainland China.
The dolphins first became a conservation issue with the construction of the new airport and associated dynamiting and land reclamation at Chek Lap Kok. According to Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Ltd the next big project is a proposed 42 kilometre mega bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai.
I can’t image the bridge and associated traffic will do anything but exacerbate the already poor air quality.
Photo scanned (with permission) from a Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Ltd. postcard, visit http://www.hkdolphinwatch.com.
Thanks to Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Ltd for a great day out.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD has worked in industry and government. She is currently researching a novel technique for long-range weather forecasting funded by the B. Macfie Family Foundation.