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Chinese white dolphin

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.
The Airport Authority releases juvenile fish into the waters to the west of the airport. Photo: Nora Tam
Hong Kong environmental issues

Why is Hong Kong releasing 83,500 young fish into its waters?

Airport Authority also says it has finished deploying 500 artificial reefs as ‘housing’ for fish in waters surrounding facility.

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Hong Kong environmental issues

Chinese white dolphin found dead on Hong Kong shores, necropsy under way

Hong Kong environmental issues

Hong Kong establishes its largest marine park in northern Lantau waters

Animal welfare in Hong Kong

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

Newborn and adult dolphin found in Pui O, with Ocean Park Conservation Foundation to conduct autopsies.

The adult dolphin measured about 2.4 metres in length. Photo: Hong Kong Ocean Park Conservation Foundation
Hong Kong environmental issues

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

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department say using AI-based systems can ensure effective management of protected areas and save manpower.

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.

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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.

A Chinese white dolphin is seen in Lantau waters in August 2023. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
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.

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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.

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.

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The latest Irrawaddy dolphin death is believed to have stemmed from entanglement in an illegal fishing line. Photo: Anupam Koley/Nature in Focus Photography Awards
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.

A Chinese white dolphin is seen at South Lantau Marine Park. Photo: Sam Tsang
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.

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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.

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Video | Tracking the endangered Chinese white dolphin

A hi-tech solution to tracking China’s shrinking white dolphin population
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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.

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Chinese white dolphin numbers in Hong Kong waters have been falling for years, but in 2021 only two were found washed up dead on beaches, probably because Macau ferry services were halted.
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.

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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.

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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.

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Chinese white dolphins displaying breaching and spy-hopping behaviours in the waters off Hong Kong, where ocean noise pollution threatens their survival. Photo: Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society
Conservation

Video | Chinese white dolphin seen far from home

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.

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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.

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Rare pink dolphins are returning to Hong Kong waters. Photo: Handout.
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.

Chinese white dolphins play in Hong Kong waters in 2016. Photo: Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society
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.

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.

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.

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Greta Thunberg, centre, stands with other young activists at COP25, the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference, in Madrid on December 9. Photo: AP
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.

Tourists on the Hong Kong Dolphin Watch tour around Lantau Island on October 9. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
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.

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.

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