Critical habitat in local waters for finless porpoises

The construction of a huge waste incinerator and related land reclamation on Shek Kwu Chau island is disturbing waters of the Indo Pacific porpoises inhabit.

An interesting report published on South China Morning Post (on 11 January 2019 ) tells about.


Naomi Brannan and other researchers worry that the mammals may be heading for a fate akin to the nearby, fast-declining Chinese white dolphin.

Brannan joined Sea Mammal Research Unit Consulting and today’s outing is a survey focused on one of Hong Kong’s largest and yet least known animals: the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise.

Although the mammal looks nothing special when surfacing photos of finless porpoises in captivity show they have faces with an almost cartoonlike cuteness. Their heads are rounded, with widely spaced, prominent black eyes, and upturned mouths suggesting they are perpetually smiling.


The most reliable estimate of the porpoise population in waters around Hong Kong and neighbouring Guangdong province suggests they may number about 200.

They favour quieter places, such as the waters off southwest Shek Kwu Chau, which is the site chosen for the planned waste incinerator.

An artificial island is planned for the incinerator, and given that this could affect the finless porpoises, the contractor has commissioned surveys to assess how they respond while work proceeds. These include today’s outing by the Sea Mammal Research Unit team.


An environmental impact assessment on the proposed site of the incinerator anticipated that the porpoises would be disturbed if the work went ahead, but confidently predicted mitigation measures would keep any adverse impacts to an “acceptable level”


This is not a view shared by conservationists who say that the huge impact during the ground investigation work “shows that the real construction process will have a larger impact on finless porpoises when there are more working vessels and noise".



The main mitigation measure proposed is the creation of a Southwest Lantau Marine Park, to encompass waters west of Shek Kwu Chau and around the Soko Islands. However, work on establishing this has been slow, due in part to objections from some nearby villagers.

Experience with the Chinese white dolphin reveals marine parks are no magical panacea for disturbance from development. Two such parks were established for the dolphins north of Lantau.

But with an important safe area being lost to them, and no sanctuary to replace it, the finless porpoise may be headed for a fate akin to the nearby, fast-declining dolphin.