Officials in Hong Kong and mainland China disagree over fate of white dolphins in Pearl River
- Chinese Ministry of Agriculture says population of mammal ‘basically stable’ after building of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge
- But Hong Kong counterparts find that numbers in waters off Lantau Island have almost halved since 2011
The population of Chinese white dolphins in the Pearl River estuary is “basically stable” despite nearly a decade of disruptive marine construction works on the world’s longest sea crossing and a near 20 per cent drop since 2005, according to the bridge’s management authority.
Research commissioned by the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Authority – a project-managing body jointly established by the three governments – indicated that dolphin numbers in the Lingding Channel have remained roughly the same since work began in 2009.
The survey results – conducted in waters of the central channel of the Pearl River Delta running from the mouth at Humen all the way down to Dongao island – were mentioned in a post on its website on Sunday.
Construction of the multibillion-dollar, 55km bridge began in 2009 and it finally opened on October 23 after years of cost overruns and delays.
From 955 individual dolphins identified in abundance surveys between August 2010 and January 2011, and 957 between 2015 and 2016, the number stood at 945 between 2017 and 2018. In 2005-06, before any of the work began, the figure stood at about 1,167.
