LETTERS AROUND THE WORLD BY E. ALLEN
DEAR HONG KONG, Thank you. One of my lifetime bucket list goals was to see living wild Pink Dolphins in Hong Kong Bay. In October 2019, my Canadian friend extended the invitation to visit her, as well as to find what are actually extremely endangered Chinese White Dolphins. The Hong Kong Pink Dolphin Tours Company has had more success in finding these rare Chinese Chordata because they use larger boats with slower engines. Upon reviewing the video, it is also possible they use a highfrequency whistle to signal the dolphins, but they did not actively feed the mammals during our tour. My friend, who holds a degree in hotel and tourism, had been on four previous tours looking for the elusive pods without success. “Not this time, I have foreseen it!� Her prognostication was correct. We were able to see 10 out of the known remaining 37 animals tracked and studied in the bay. Sadly, there was only one baby calf in the group. During the same time our tour took place, there was another small speedboat with two people right next to the dolphins jumping in and out of the water. One photographer with a high-speed lens standing at the bow, and the other person steering the single prop engine aft. Our guide stated the photographer was a graduate student researching the remaining pod.
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The 3-hour tour is offered three-days-a-week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) and costs about 350 Hong Kong dollars, approximately $45 U.S. dollars. For more conservation information on the remaining 37 dolphins, the tour guide encouraged me to contact the Hong Kong Dolphin and Whale Conservation Society. Thank you for answering questions in three different languages, as well as helping bring awareness to many opportunities for change we have to encourage the population of marine life in shared waters. Hong Kong airport land reclamation projects have been one habitat disturbance concern for the marine mammals surrounding the bay. The continued expansion for new hotel development and apartments continues to impact the endangered Chinese White Dolphins. Perhaps in the future visitors might take this new awareness into their decision-making process when choosing an overnight travel destination location.
DEAR AUSTRALIA, My younger brother has been traveling the globe for the past six months with his wife. His animal bucket list included the vulnerable Quokka. The Quokka is a small brown marsupial with a mouse-shaped face and nocturnal tendencies, and reminded me of a bashful baby marmot from Rocky Mountain National Park.
March 2020 | greenliving
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