Intern Veronica: 3rd Week

Greetings again!

I've concluded my third week at HKDCS and all is well.  The other day, it was my first official tryout for observing and I was lucky to get two dolphin sightings in a row (I still missed a few, though :-P).  

When I say lucky, I really do mean it, by the way.  These dolphins can be anywhere at any given time.  Yes, they are resident species, but they can be together or alone, following a shrimp trawler, hanging out near an island, or riding a wave somewhere.  Looking for dolphins isn’t like tracking deer in a forest; this is a much bigger area and there aren't that many of them, after all.  When surveying, there is no set day for where we go or which day we go, and dolphins don't have a Monday through Friday schedule either.  Starting our trip from the west or the east, and sitting down and looking to the left first with the naked eye or to the right with binoculars and at that same exact moment catching a dolphin surfacing is all a result of chance.  Don't get me wrong, it's not like we have trouble finding dolphins—this team seems to do quite well at that—but because we are all aware of this chance, whenever we do see a dolphin, we get pretty excited about it. :-)

I think that’s what I like about cetacean research.  It seems like no one here ever tires of a dolphin sighting.  With normal day-to-day, 9-to-5 jobs, daily events can be pretty repetitive and boring, but when dealing with animals, every event feels new and refreshing.  I think it is because of this feeling that I am reminded of why I enjoy the kind of work I've been doing and why I wanted to give cetacean work a try.

...Since we’re talking about luck, I have to say that Hong Kong is lucky to have cetaceans along these waters just outside their cities.  I mean, take a look at Hong Kong’s landscape:

Except for the mountains in the background, it kind of looks like New York City, doesn’t it?  It’s surprising that marine megafauna are still here!  Hong Kong is a busy place with not only busy streets, but busy waterways, as well.  Yet, with all this development and land reclamation that’s going on, it won’t be luck that keeps the dolphins here for much longer.  Conservation and management schemes will be what keep them around in the near future.   

The countdown to the end of trawling in these waters has already begun (end of 2012), but that’s only a start.  If no other actions are done, people will begin counting down to the end of these lovely creatures, too.

One other thing: I still haven’t seen a Finless Porpoise yet!!  Oh well.  Better luck next time!  Hahaha

Over and out.

Intern Veronica 2012: 1st Week

Hello, everyone.  My name is Veronica Frans and I am a new intern here at HKDCS.  I am doing this internship in order to fulfill a requirement for the second semester of my grad school program.  I am from New Jersey, USA and study International Nature Conservation at Georg-August Universität, Göttingen, Germany (www.uni-goettingen.de/minc).  My past 3 years have been spent doing research aboard commercial fishing vessels in Alaska for the US National Marine Fisheries Service. Fish, marine mammals and coastal marine environments are greatly interesting to me.  As languages are my hobby and I love working with people as well, I hope to one day work in community-based conservation programs throughout the world for the sake of marine conservation. Already gaining new skills important for such a goal, I know after my first week here that I was really lucky to find HKDCS and be accepted into this program.

The HKDCS team is relatively small, but they accomplish a lot each day.  It has actually grown fairly recently, so I'm not the only newbie here; the organization has 3 new research assistants, so we're all learning together.  The dolphin research mainly consists of vessel surveys and land-based theodolite surveys.  There is, of course, office work for data entry and analysis as well.  I was a bit enthusiastic and ready to jump to work right away, but Samuel, the chairperson and lead researcher for HKDCS, had me sit back and observe first.  When I was later handed binoculars and a range finder with which to practice, I then realized that I have a ways to go before I considering myself ready to sit in the observer chair.  Looking for cetaceans isn't just some opportunistic, hap-hazard thing; there's a protocol and it is strictly followed here.

A funny note: what everyone has jokingly called my first dolphin sighting wasn't of a white adult or a grey calf.  Instead, it was of a golden one, as seen here:

I asked everyone what that dolphin was for and they quickly turned around, ready to take photos as though it were for the survey.  I was glad they didn't go as far as to stop the boat for it, or I would've been really embarrassed by the misunderstanding.  Hahaha.  My next sighting was a bit more exciting though, and I was proud that I found a real one all by myself.  They're pretty fast!

I was assigned to join a dolphin watching tour this week and it seems that people from all over the world enjoy them.  They're playful creatures and seeing such an animal perform at a dolphin show is nothing compared to observing their behavior in the wild.  A few were feeding and porpoising the other day and it was awesome to hear the tourists gasp in awe and point in excitement.  Check out what we saw:

I have to say that after seeing them in person, the Chinese White Dolphin is indeed a beautiful Hong Kong resident.  Based on the conservation concerns that I've learned about thus far, though, let's hope these creatures stick around for future generations to enjoy as well.

Until next time!

Jane's Internship 2012

As my four-month summer holiday in Hong Kong began to draw to a close, so did my research internship at HKDCS.

The past two months had certainly been the highlight of this summer, not to mention being the most memorable and inspiring internship that I have yet attended over the past few years. At HKDCS no two days are the same. We can never know what we will see on a particular trip, be it one calmly surfacing porpoise or a large pod of socializing dolphins; and be it our first or last day, seeing these mammals can never fail to enthuse us. For me, what makes HKDCS so different from the many other organizations at which I have previously worked is this expectation for the unpredictability that made my every single day at HKDCS so unforgettable.

There were so many memorable experiences that I could not possibly name them all, ranging from the petitions outside Ocean Park and the Japanese Consulate Council, to the once-in-a-lifetime hike up Lung Kwu Chau, and to the discovery of a porpoise carcass on my penultimate day of work. Never had I seen a live porpoise in its entire form during the two months, and to see a carcass of this species was truly one overwhelming experience for me. It made me realise for the first time how real and close these animals are to us humans, and how vulnerable they are to the dangers that the human presence poses for them.

HKDCS is a truly wonderful organization, with amazing people working together towards a beautiful goal of protecting our lovable Chinese white dolphins and finless porpoises in the seas. I am missing everyone and the dolphins here in England, and will definitely be back soon for a visit!

James's Summer Internship

Hello everyone!

I was a summer intern at HKDCS from mid-July to mid-September and am now writing this from Southampton in the UK just after term has started. Since I've finished my internship, I couldn't stop thinking about all the dolphins and porpoises that I've seen over the summer. While time flies when you're conducting surveys, this internship has made this one of my most fulfilling summers to date, allowing me to contribute to some valuable research being done on the Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin and the Finless Porpoise.

There were some challenging times during those two months. We had to get up early for land-based surveys, getting exposed under the searing heat of the sun on most days, fighting seasickness on a regular basis during boat surveys etc. Though this may put some people off, the minute you see a group of dolphins always puts a smile on my face, and I forget about the harsh conditions that I was working in.

I can't really pick out any highlights during my internship, because I have so many wonderful memories of active dolphins giving us a magnificent show during surveys, much better than any 'show' from captive dolphins. One particular highlight, though, was seeing a newborn calf during one of our land-based observations. It was possibly the cutest thing that I have ever seen.

Anyway, for anyone looking for a challenge, and hoping to contribute to the survival of these magnificent dolphins, an internship with the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society is definitely worth it. All the staff are very friendly and will help you with any problems, and you gain valuable insight in how marine mammal research is conducted and get to take part in it. Also, it sounds cool when you tell all your friends that you've been doing dolphin research over the summer.

To anyone whose thinking about becoming an intern at HKDCS, stop thinking and start applying!

難忘趣事開心share!! :D

Hello~ 我係 HKDCS 呢個暑假ge實習生 Heyman 呀 :D

實習期間 我地做左好多海裡陸上的海豚研究 令我大開眼界
但係我點都估唔到 自己會咁好彩係見到d咁畢生難忘ge情景

係今年8月中 我地走去深屈做 land-based 的時候
竟然俾Vincent用theodolite見到
遠方有一條中華白海豚媽媽將啱啱出世ge海豚bb頂上水面 幫助佢呼吸
而條海豚bb身上仲有胎摺 所以相信出左世冇幾耐
我地開頭用望遠鏡去搵條bb其實都唔易
一來望遠鏡放大倍數始終不及theodolite 二來海豚bb實在太細條喇
要好留心 先會見到 "海豚媽媽上水戈陣隔離有舊黑色野"
之後我地就輪流用望遠鏡一直追蹤住海豚bb ge動向 順便做埋survey

 (圖片來源: 網上)



原來除左海豚媽媽之外 佢身邊戈三條海豚都輪流咁游近bb 幫手教佢游水
過左幾個字之後 海豚bb終於都識得自己上水呼吸喇
不過個姿勢當然冇其他海豚咁靚啦
有時海豚bb仲好八厭ga 游游下就會游開左 要海豚媽媽追番個bb
過多陣 我地就見到海豚bb愈游愈順 愈游愈優美喇

我地仲見到海豚媽媽成嘴都係泥
原來呢個時候海豚媽媽係bb面前使出佢ge看家本領 -- 捉魚
俾海豚bb聞下新鮮魚ge味道 等佢大個之後快d戒奶 捉魚食

見證一條屬於海洋ge新生命在各方的照顧下成長
由開頭在大海中未掌握生存技巧 到後來行動自如 真的是非常窩心的一件事
真係發夢都估唔到我會係實習期間睇到呢個咁寶貴ge畫面
就好似上演緊真實版ge《豚在野希希大冒險》一樣

P.S.
《豚在野希希大冒險》係一本由香港海豚保育學會出版的「真豚真事」繪本
內容講述中華白海豚bb「希希」在香港海域出世後的成長故事
當中還提及「希希」係香港生活所受到的生命威脅 如高速船撞擊和噪音污染

(圖片來源: 香港自然探索會學會 Facebook page)

Matt's Intership---2012 Summer

大家好, 我係summer intern Matthew.  我o係HKDCS已經做o左三個月喇!
呢三個月除o左學到好多關於海豚嘅知識同埋點去conduct survey外, 我覺得最特別係可以接觸好多同survey以外嘅事物。

Intern嘅第二日我地就跟o左Samuel去主持一個press condference, 咁大個仔都無去過press conference,所以係個全新嘅體驗, 個press conference係關於第三條跑道同高速船點影響海豚嘅數目、行為。

 

記者會上見到Smauel即使面對記者們尖銳嘅問題, 仍然係耐心解答, 令我都知道自己要做多d reading, 充實自己!





 

 

Internship嘅第三個星期, 一間本地電視台跟o左我地出海, 佢地同Samuel做o左訪問, 探討港珠澳大橋嘅填海工程對海豚有咩影響。

 

 

兩個星期後, 節目播出, 我竟然o係電視見到自己呀!

去到七月中, 就到o左學會一年一度嘅書展喇!

 

書展期間, 我地要不斷同客人講解介紹佢地有興趣嘅書籍; o係工餘時間我都有刻意閱讀書展有展示嘅書籍, 好讓自己o係介紹嘅時候能夠更準確同生動。今年嘅書展有賴眾員工、intern同義工嘅努力, 得以成功圓滿結束!

 

Internship嘅最後一日, 我地去o左日本領事館嘅位址請願, 希望日本停止捕鯨!

Save Japan's Dolphins; Stop the Slaughter!

 

 

 

我好慶幸o係自己internship嘅最後一日仍然可以為海豚出一分力, 我地派嘅每一張傳單、每一本書仔其實都希望市民正式海豚所面對嘅問題, 期間我地亦有向途人解釋人工餵養帶俾海豚嘅問題。

除o左呢d大型活動, 我都試過去中小學幫手做學會講talk嘅helper; o係HKDCS做intern除o左學識好多scientific嘅知識外, 亦擴闊o左自己嘅視野; 呢三個月過得真係好有意義!

Japan Dolphins Day - 31 August 2012

Coming into the fourth week of my internship, I am delighted to have had the opportunity to participate in an event as globalised and pivotal as such!

Held across the world in as many as 88 countries, the Japan Dolphins Day protests aimed to commemorate and spread the word about the annual monstrous mass slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan, that was first put into the international spotlight by the Oscar-winning documentary The Cove. The sad fact is that the killings have yet again recommenced, and only just a few days ago. Thus on 31 August/1 September, dolphin activists from all around the globe (including major cities such as Hong Kong, Brisbane, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, London etc.) made their way to their local Japanese embassies, in the hope of drawing the attention of Japanese consuls, the media and passers-by to the plight of our defenseless dolphins.

Judging from the many befuddled expressions of the white-collar workers of Central, it dawned upon me that the lack of public participation and awareness of the heinous happenings in the quiet town of Taiji has been and still is a major contributor to the legal loophole in the regulation of Japanese fisheries. Oriented towards financial considerations and economic development (through the marketing of dolphin meat and the export of dolphins to aquariums), Japan’s development policies remains locked in for an amoral path that has little regard for the dolphins’ hardships. Indeed whilst we cannot know exactly whether and how the Japanese government will respond to the cause of the Taiji dolphins, the knowledge that we have further informed Hong Kong people and hopefully imprinted in their minds of the dolphins’ sufferings was what made 31 August a most memorable conclusion to my first month at HKDCS!

HKDCS Press Conference 2012

Hey guys! My name is Joanne and I have been working at the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society as a new research intern since April.

       Today I would like to share a few photos that I had taken in the early June, when HKDCS held a press conference regarding our Chinese White Dolphins.

Welcome to the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society Press Conference!

 Have you guys ever been to a press conference before? I was so excited that day as it was my first time going to a press conference and seeing so many journalists!

 Photo time before the press conference started!

 Our society's chairman, Samuel, was showing different photos to the journalists and explaining how high speed ferry is posing a serious threat to our local Chinese White dolphin population.

After the press conference, Samuel was getting tons of questions from the journalists.

Here are two online media articles released after the press conference. Check it out!

- Study finds ferry threat to Hong Kong dolphins

- 大嶼山高速船航道 白海豚數量銳減

The bystander effect.

One of Hong Kong's remaining mega-fauna: The Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin (印度太平洋駝背豚 [Pronunciation: Yun Doe Tai Ping Yeung Tor Bui Tuen]), Scientific name: Sousa chinesis, also known as the Chinese White Dolphin (中華白海豚 [Pronunciation: Jung Wah Bak Hoi Tuen]).

The current rate of development is unprecedented, with China, Hong Kong and Macau all wanting to further urbanize their regions at the expense of the natural environment; many scientists agree that the marine ecosystem is in great peril.The current developmental proposals and infrastructure projects that are facing Hong Kong's cetacean habitats alone include a third airport runway in which 650 hectares of land will be reclaimed, a massive waste incinerator next to the near-pristine Shek Kwu Chau Island, the HK-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge construction that is already underway, the HK-Shenzhen Airport Railway, and the ten proposed reclamation sites by the Hong Kong government in an effort to combat increasing human population. How much more pollution, anthropogenic threats and environmental pressures can these pink dolphins, our heavily fragmented ecosystem, and our lungs/ bodies take? Biodiversity is essential to an ecosystem's health, resilience and is also beneficial for social and economic reasons, thus there is an urgent need to conserve species for the environment itself, as well as for our future generations.

Don't be the bystander; take action whenever and wherever possible. Write letters to legislators, participate in environmental open forum events, consume less seafood and meat products, adopt a simple lifestyle with a minimal use of plastic or non-degradable materials. Re-use and recycle, or better yet, adopt a zero-waste strategy at home. Do your part and educate others, they need all the help and voice they can get if they are to survive in this relentless, anthropocentric world.

Bag the habit and

Please also take the time to view "On the trail of the Chinese White Dolphin" photo blog by photographer Peter Yuen who came on board with us on one of our HKDCS dolphin day trips. Many thanks to Peter for dedicating his time, effort, skills and writing a blog post to inspire others to help our dolphins!
http://www.peteryuenphotography.com/Blog/Hong-Kong-Dolphin-Conservation/21688720_CR9BrF
and the following link for more flipper bubbles and splashing photos!
http://www.peteryuenphotography.com/Animals/Pink-Dolphins/21686543_XBGwG6#!i=1730029092&k=Xnh7nvz
All print proceeds from his Hong Kong Pink Dolphins gallery page will go to HKDCS! They make beautiful and thoughtful gifts for any season! :) Enjoy!

Good luck!

My 2 month internship has come to an end and I am now writing from Sydney after finishing some university assessments, now thinking about our pink dolphins and finless porpoises, my colleagues at the HKDCS, my family, my dog and the state of the remaining environment in Hong Kong. Working at HKDCS was a joyous and thrilling experience. Finally meeting the wild pink HK dolphins and porpoises, as well as the HKDCS colleagues that I have known for a while only via Facebook since the Blue-fin tuna and other captivity protest events was the highlight. In both cases, it was not at all a disappointment. They were all very friendly, intelligent, helpful and caring souls hehehe J

At times, the job was challenging, such as waking up early to catch the 730am bus to Tai O in Tung Chung for field work (Future interns must remember to sleep early!), getting your eyes and brain accustomed to looking through the binoculars while the boat flings you around during windy days around Lamma Island (If you feel sick, don’t be afraid to let the colleagues know!), trying to stay awake under the effects of drowsy motion-sickness pills (for some, this pill is a gift and is an easier and less harsh way of allowing your body to adapt to hours on a moving boat), persuading parents to buy nature books for their nature-knowledge starved kids at the book stall (wonderful and rare to see that some parents actually take the time out to go on nature walks. They identify species and cross-check from their photographs what they’ve seen during the walks from our nature books with their children- very sweet!), explaining to people that captivity kills, is cruel and is not a good way of conserving species ( (._.) ), as well as deciding which student has their arm raised the highest hence deserving the mic to answer a question during our monthly school visits (this was a very difficult task! :P). 

But please don’t be put off by this long list of challenges! Seeing wild dolphins and porpoises swimming freely, porpoising, spy-hopping and splashing about as well as being on the HKDCS team and knowing that I am working with them to safe-guard the environment for the species and our future generations was all worth it. I guarantee that any future intern who will work with the HKDCS team will enjoy their experience and gain plenty of invaluable knowledge and skills!

Here’s my good luck to the next intern! J

A Sea Turtle Love Story

When two Loggerhead turtles finally meet in this vast and unrelenting ocean, it's really one of nature's greatest events; only about "one in ten thousand make it that far". Then they would go separate ways and the female would begin her incredible and tiresome journey alone in finding suitable nesting sites for her eggs, guided by her instincts and unwavering motivation.

This is not a turtle leisurely strolling on the beach; this is a female turtle almost completing her maternal duties. It's not easy work at all for such a heavily built marine animal walking on land.

A mother turtle's treasures.

Most of the turtles that have survived the merciless onslaught from sea birds, crabs and other predators when they were babies bear horrible anthropogenic scars when they reach adulthood. They are constantly subject to an almost never-ending list of threats (as with most wildlife): pollution and oil spills, hunting, exploitation, habitat fragmentation, injuries from vessel contact, entanglement from long-line fishing, plastic bags and other rubbish dumped at sea, climate change as well as threats from their own natural predators.

Love at first sight.

I re-watched the 'love' scene from the Turtle documentary on the plane over and over again because it is so beautiful and emotional, although I was disappointed to find out that it was funded by Seaworld. Nevertheless, this is a great film that documents the life of a turtle that begins from when it was a little hatchling crawling out from its underground nest- so strong and well-oriented yet so fragile, with it's survival depending on pure luck.

Plastic bags are one of the leading causes of marine animal deaths.

Away from this wonderful and bittersweet sea turtle story and onto captivity issues: Surely SeaWorld would know and understand that turtles are made to travel and not to be kept at aquariums? Marine parks and aquariums do have its conservation and educational value, but it's cruel and the significance is small compared with seeing animals in the wild, through documentaries or conserving the immediate environment. Placing animals -especially those that are migratory or highly intelligent such as dolphins and turtles- in captivity for profitable reasons often means stealing them from the wild; it is appalling and disconcerting as it is illustrative of the ill values we are teaching our future generations.

Christie Wong

Baby Dolphin Music Video (HONG KONG EDITION)

[A video I took during our dolphin survey trip on Saturday 7th January 2012. :) I am so glad Youtube allowed me to upload this with the "Cuppy cake" background song so I didn't have to sing this myself. :p]

Chinese White Dolphins are actually better known as Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins (aka Sousa chinesis/ Pink dolphins)- they are also found in other coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific region and NOT just in Chinese waters as the local name "Chinese White Dolphin" falsely suggests. The numbers of these dolphins in the Pearl River Estuary (Hong Kong included) are not of great concern at the moment and it would probably be incorrect to say that they will be driven to extinction very rapidly in the next few years.

On the other hand, Taiwan's pink dolphin population are dangerously low and they are now listed as critically endangered. It is certainly an urgent issue for them and they need our help and protection, but it is hard not to think about and worry for the future of the dolphins in our region as well, with the HK-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, proposed reclamation sites and the airport 3rd runway development underway- meaning more hazards, pollution, habitat destruction and more stress for the dolphins. :(


An informative video about the plight of Taiwan pink dolphins from http://taiwansousa.blogspot.com/

Do we humans always have to drive a species to (almost) extinction to finally realize that we are impacting negatively on their (and our) environment (and in the future, to the point of no return)?

Animals and wildlife in construction friendly places like Hong Kong and Taiwan need our help. Educate and involve yourself, your family and friends on environmental issues and voice your concerns to the government whenever possible.