The Hong Kong scientist trying to revive the city’s coral reefs
Decades after pollution devastated Tolo Harbour’s reefs, Chinese University’s Coral Academy is reviving their ecosystems
In the early 1980s, coral carpeted the seabed under the Tolo Harbour in northeastern Hong Kong. Coverage reached as high as 70 to 80 per cent in some areas, comparable to what scientists now see in the city’s marine parks.
Within a few years, almost all of it was gone. “Not a lot of people actually know about this,” says Dr Apple Chui Pui-yi, assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences at Chinese University.
As nearby towns such as Sha Tin and Tai Po developed, pollution and sewage discharge poured into the semi-enclosed waters of the harbour. Coral coverage collapsed to less than 5 per cent. Scientists now describe it as Hong Kong’s first marine ecological disaster.
“After 20 years of improved water quality, the coral just never returned,” Chui says.
The disappearance of those reefs is what now drives her work. Chui runs a coral research lab at Chinese University and founded Coral Academy, an outreach initiative designed to connect scientific research with public understanding. If the science is about reefs, the mission is about people.
Chui’s own fascination with the ocean began long before she became a scientist. Her childhood weekends were spent exploring Hong Kong’s coastline with her family. Beaches in Sai Kung remain vivid in her memory: cobble shores where waves had polished stones smooth, fishing trips, early attempts at snorkelling.