"The environment is, arguably, our only legacy to our children; and during our brief span of life it is our duty to protect and conserve it, so that the following generations may find it even more worth cherishing."
– Brian Morton: The future of the Hong Kong Seashore, 1979
22-9-2011 - How much do you know about the cruelty surrounding keeping the largest species of dolphins orcas in captivity?
To learn more, please click
here for Humane Society International Dr Naomi Rose's report.
25-7-2011 - Threats endangering the survival of Hong Kong’s dolphins
There are so many threats endangering the survival of Hong Kong’s dolphins, the following are the major ones:
Pollution (The following data is old, it is very difficult to get hold of updated figures but they are sure to be much higher.)
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Every day, Hong Kong produces 2 million tonnes of liquid waste, and 22,500 tonnes of solid or semi-solid waste. 70% of this is untreated.
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About 450,000 cubic metres of raw, semi-processed sewage is dumped into the harbour every day, enough to fill 200 Olympic size swimming pools.
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25-6-2011 - Please help to stop shocking dolphin cruelty - from WDCS
Response to the article published in the SCMP City section entitled “Plea for sightseers to give whale space”
The arrival of a humpback whale in Hong Kong waters has created great interest and excitement over the last few days, suggesting that we might be interested in marine life as a source of something other than food.
Experts are quite right to ask people NOT to head out to sea looking for the whale- this is a lone creature who needs to be given space to find its way back to its usual route and we can only reiterate what has been said so far.
It is ironic that we can't afford the same due care to our own Chinese White Dolphins - no one seems to care that the waters around Tai O have become a playground for pile-em-high, sell-em-cheap boats that go speeding into the dolphins' habitat with no regard for the animals or the AFCD’s Code of Conduct for Dolphin Watching. The situation in that area is unacceptable, yet complaints to government departments go round in circles with no one willing to act.
Perhaps our interest in marine life is actually as a source of amusement, with no respect shown for these creatures? Let us hope that the humpback whale has realized that this is no place for cetaceans, and has had a luckier escape than our resident species, who have no place to hide.
Janet Walker
Hong Kong Dolphinwatch
Saving Dolphins (by Janet Walker)
The Marine Department's comment that dolphins are smart and know how to get out of the way of oncoming high speed ferries (June 2nd, 2007) shows an amazing lack of knowledge or concern for the environment under their care. We humans are upposed to be smart, yet thousands of us are killed by vehicles every year - it's the same problem: too much traffic & too many careless drivers.