Welcome Aboard! Pink dolphins welcome you to their home!
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
Video of Ringo and friends
Video of Ringo
Video of Ropey, Ringo and friends
Video credit: Ken Fung
"All around the world people are realising that whale and dolphin-watching - when done responsibly and suatainably - is an extremely valuable, and one of the fastest growing sectors of the tourism industry. Whale and dolphins are also an extremely effective draw for tourists - people will come from up to around half way around the world to gain experiences with these animals. This type of tourism also has many other benefits apart from the financial: it helps educate both tourists and local people about dolphins, their behaviour, biology, ecology and their role as part of an area's natural heritage and history, as well as the value of conserving these animals."
"I'd like to contgratulate HK DolphinWatch on their 10 year anniversary and thank them for the significant part they've played in raising awareness of Hong Kong's dolphins and the threats that they face - both locally and internationally." Professor Chris Parsons (George Mason University, USA - Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin and whalewatching expert)
The Pearl River Delta, between Hong Kong and Macau, is home to around a thousand Indo-pacific Humpback dolphins, Sousa chinensis. For some unknown reason, populations of this species along the Chinese coast are bright pink.
Come and join us on one of our tours to see these beautiful creatures and enjoy an unforgettable experience. We strongly believe that the more admirers they have, the louder we can speak out for their better protection. Meantime, please browse around this site to learn about them and help save them.
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Hong Kong Dolphinwatch Ltd.
1528A Star House, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon,
Hong Kong SAR, China PRC [Map]
Tel: (852) 2984-1414 Fax: (852) 2984-7799
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