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Chinese white dolphin

Hong Kong environmental issues

Hong Kong establishes its largest marine park in northern Lantau waters

City formalises 2,400 hectare park as studies show Chinese white dolphins have ‘greatly diminished’ in area since 2016 amid runway construction.

1 Nov 2024 - 9:33PM

Animal welfare in Hong Kong

2 Chinese white dolphins wash up dead on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island

4 Jul 2024 - 6:35PM

Hong Kong environmental issues

Hong Kong authorities to introduce AI systems at country parks to spot wildfires

8 May 2024 - 4:34PM

Hong Kong housing

Letters | Hong Kong should drop artificial islands plan, revitalise South Lantau instead

Readers discuss the plan to reclaim land in the waters off Lantau Island, and steps public libraries could take to promote the culture of reading.

4 Apr 2024 - 2:30PM

A woman digs the beach in Shui Hau in South Lantau in November 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

Hong Kong environmental issues

Letters | Hong Kong must not sacrifice pink dolphins to infrastructure

Readers discuss the ecological impact of reclamation off the coast of Lantau, the culling of wild boars, and the upcoming ban on single-use plastic.

30 Mar 2024 - 2:30PM

Hong Kong environmental issues

Mega bridge project ‘likely main stressor’ on Hong Kong dolphin habitat

Marine experts worry that mega Lantau reclamation project will disrupt dolphin habitat and conservation plans are lacking.

16 Mar 2024 - 8:54PM

Hong Kong environmental issues

Hong Kong’s white dolphins, porpoises ‘face same threats as visiting Bryde’s whale’

Animals susceptible to being trapped in abandoned fishing nets, hit by ship propellers and affected by noise from ship engines.

28 Aug 2023 - 8:04PM

A Chinese white dolphin, which is considered a vulnerable species, in Lantau waters. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Cambodia

Deaths of endangered Cambodian dolphins highlight need for laws to save species

The latest Irrawaddy dolphin death spotlighted the need for law enforcement of illegal fishing activities to save the species.

26 Dec 2022 - 8:57PMvideocam

Hong Kong environmental issues

Fewer ferries lead to more dolphin activity, Hong Kong group finds

Wildlife group calls on government to divert cross-border ferry operations in the Southern Lantau Fairway.

21 Jul 2022 - 10:35PM

Environment

Opinion | Has Hong Kong’s environmental report card improved since 1997?

For years the government has pursued growth at the expense of sustainability, with environmental policies proving inadequate or painfully slow to materialise. Chief Executive John Lee’s promise of measurable impact means he needs to deliver on key indicators like pollution levels and population figures for endangered species.

5 Jul 2022 - 9:15AMvideocam

A Chinese white dolphin is seen in waters around Lantau on September 10, 2021. The number of these dolphins in Hong Kong waters has dropped considerably since 1997. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Hong Kong environmental issues

Opinion | How marine zoning can protect Hong Kong’s seas

To keep up with its development needs that will inevitably impact its seas, Hong Kong must catch up with international and national standards and adopt a holistic, long-term marine management system.

8 Jun 2022 - 7:15AMvideocam

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge as seen from Tung Chung in Hong Kong, on May 24. The building of the bridge has had an impact on the population of Chinese white dolphins in these waters. Photo: Jelly Tse

Tracking the endangered Chinese white dolphin

28 Apr 2022 - 11:00AM

Environment

With pandemic ferry ban, fewer Chinese white dolphins wash up dead

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.

15 Mar 2022 - 6:15PM

Hong Kong environmental issues

Letters | Hong Kong fully supports global biodiversity priorities

Readers discuss the Hong Kong government’s biodiversity efforts, how to improve access to Covid-19 records, and the Rohingya refugee crisis.

27 Nov 2021 - 6:30AMvideocam

Conservation

High death rate of calves sparks fears over survival of Hong Kong’s dolphins

Annual government report finds nearly half of all newborns fail to survive beyond two years, for a species whose numbers have already been decimated.

31 Aug 2021 - 9:29PM

Fresh concerns have been raised over the survival of the Chinese white dolphin in Hong Kong’s waters. Photo: Sam Tsang

Environment

A problem that runs deep: noise pollution’s toll on Chinese white dolphins

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.

1 Jul 2021 - 2:36PMvideocam

Conservation

Chinese white dolphin seen far from home

15 Mar 2021 - 12:11PM

Environment

Experts race to save Chinese white dolphin spotted in south China river

Animal seen in Xi River in Guangxi could be at risk if it is unable to return to open waters, news report says.

15 Mar 2021 - 12:22PMvideocam

File picture of a Chinese white dolphin. Photo: Grant Abel

Coronavirus pandemic

Pink dolphins stay longer as pollution levels fall during Covid-19

Green groups warn pollution will return unless city does more to change harmful behaviours.

21 Nov 2020 - 9:14AMvideocam

Hong Kong's third runway proposal

Hong Kong Airport Authority, conservation body urged to cooperate on dolphins

Annual population surveys of the endangered dolphins conducted by the two bodies routinely deliver vastly different results.

7 Sep 2020 - 10:03PM

Conservation

If nothing done, extinction ‘most likely outcome’ for white dolphins

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.

12 Jul 2020 - 2:01PM

A Chinese white dolphin in Hong Kong. Photo: Naomi Brannan, SMRU, Hong Kong

Environment

Call to expand marine habitats to save Chinese white dolphins

Conservationists propose prioritising ‘core’ protection zones that ban fishing and development, as well as the creation of three buffer zones.

3 Jun 2020 - 12:58AM

The number of dolphins in Hong Kong has fallen by 80 per cent over the past 15 years. Photo: Handout

Climate change

Letters | Greta Thunberg is more than a youth icon in climate fight

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.

1 Jan 2020 - 8:00AMvideocam

Tourism

Tourism slump hits eco-tourism’s pink dolphin boat rides

Struggling tour operator Dolphin Watch appeals to locals and visitors to help it stay in business.

13 Oct 2019 - 3:34PM

Green living

Sustainable volunteering in Hong Kong – six options

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.

1 Aug 2019 - 4:45PM

Eco Marine and The Green Race are teaming up for a seven kilometre coastal plog (in which participants pick up litter while jogging) in Hong Kong in August. It’s one example of the opportunities for sustainable volunteering in the city. Photo: SCMP

Conservation

‘It’s our future’: Hong Kong pupils set up conservation summit

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.

27 Jun 2019 - 10:09AM

Conservation

China’s baiji dolphin is virtually extinct – here’s how to see it in Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Science Museum is playing host to a digital installation showcasing five types of whale and dolphin in a ‘virtual aquarium’.

19 Apr 2019 - 11:35PM

Tourism

Letters | Dolphin shows: stop the abuse in the name of entertainment

Aquariums cannot offer dolphins the space they need to thrive and often train them using cruel practices.

30 Mar 2019 - 6:00PMvideocam

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Chinese white dolphin

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.

last updated:

9 September, 2024