Hong Kong authorities accused of doing ‘too little, too late’ to protect Bryde’s whale from overzealous sightseers
- Lawmaker Doreen Kong says government should have been more decisive instead of waiting for experts to come to consensus on what to do
- Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan denied authorities acted too late to protect the mammal, which was found dead off Sai Kung
Conservation officials asked marine experts for help after a whale which later died was first spotted in local waters, Hong Kong’s environment chief said on Wednesday, as a lawmaker accused authorities of doing “too little, too late” to protect the animal.
The death of the Bryde’s whale off Sai Kung on Monday sparked discussions over the effectiveness of government strategies to protect the mammal, which attracted hordes of sightseers on boats over the last few weeks.
Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon on Wednesday said the government should have been more decisive instead of “waiting” for experts to come to a consensus on what to do.
“The government observed too long and waited too long before doing anything, such as calling on people not to go whale watching,” she told a radio programme. “The prime time to take action had already passed.”
A necropsy – an animal autopsy – found the seven-metre whale had suffered several wounds, including a fresh one near its dorsal fin, which could have been caused by a propeller.
Kong, a lawyer, said the director of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department should use the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance to ban whale watching or even arrest those taking part, although she admitted it would be hard to make charges stick.
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Whale found dead in Hong Kong’s Sai Kung waters after rare sightings
“The law prohibits people from hunting or wilfully disturbing protected wild animals, but that is difficult to prove,” she said.