The DRT show and more...

Hi,

It’s time for me to recall some exciting events happened in the past weeks. First of all, I was so happy to take part in the Diving and Resort Travel Expo, held on the 13^th to 15^th December at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center. The HKDCS was able to set up a booth this year, so other than selling books related to nature and marine animals, we were able to educate the public specifically on Chinese white dolphins and finless porpoises. It was exciting to know that many people were actually interested to learn more about these marine creatures and the ways to protect them. 

 Fascinating art piece from Shark Savers

Other than helping at the booth, we also took the opportunity to conduct a questionnaire survey for the SROI project I mentioned before.  Among the visitors, many of them were divers and conservationists, so we were fortunate to get lots of valuable opinions. The expo was really an eye opener for me because I wanted to learn diving for a long time. There was so much information about diving courses and beautiful diving locations worldwide. Surely, I will recommend anyone who likes diving to visit this expo!!

Our booth ~ Good job everyone :)

Apart from the DRT show, we were also busy working on the SROI project. We conducted a few questionnaire surveys and have interviewed Hong Kong residents and foreign tourists. Through their participation in the questionnaires, we wanted to know their views on the proposed Hong Kong airport’s third runway project and experiences with dolphin-watching tours. I was glad to conduct the surveys as they helped to raise public awareness about the threats posed on Chinese white dolphins.We are halfway through the project now, so hopefully it will turn out well!

Tiff :)

G' Day :D!

      Hello hello, so this is my first ever blog entry since I've joined the HKDCS family.  Where do I begin!?  I'll start by introducing myself I guess.  My name is Cherie, I study Zoology in Australia, I applied this internship programme because I didn't want to waste my holiday doing nothing, plus being able to work a job that is within my discipline would be a great opportunity for me to experience what it is like when I graduate.  

      Now that I have been working for roughly three weeks, I am finding myself fitting in quite well, everyone has been more than helpful to me, I have learnt so much since.  For example, scanning dolphins and porpoises with a pair of binoculars, filling in survey effort data sheets, working with other staff as a team.  Most of these skills are not difficult to get a hand on, it may sound cliche, but in my opinion, this is the best job in the world.  It's a day of work, staying on board on a fairly large yacht, scanning for dolphins without having the slightest chance of getting wet and dirty, seeing dolphins occasionally for free while others have to pay hundreds of dollars to see, getting the chance to admire the fascinating landscape of Hong Kong during dawn and dusk and learning knowledges in which no other job can offer.  However, I cannot say the same for land-based survey, it is less comfy than working on a boat of course.  Most of the stations are pretty remote, so you actually have to walk a couple of kilometres to get there, with equipments weighting a few stones.  Lucky for me, it is winter at the moment, and I am a pretty strong girl, but I bet I won't be saying the same if I work during the summer period.

     Apart from the usual boat survey and land-based survey, last week I also had the chance to help at the Hong Kong Diving Resort Travel expo, it was a day of great fun.  Besides giving out questionnaires and educating the public about the resident cetaceans of Hong Kong, I also had the chance to walk around and getting good bargains for diving gears. :D

Well, I guess I will stop here for now, I will keep you guys updated very soon.

Days in Shum Wat =)

Finally, I was able to visit Shum Wat twice! It is one of the important stations for land-based survey, so I was hoping to go there for a long time. The station in Shum Wat was far away from the bus terminal and took us about 45 minutes of walk to the survey site. On our way to the hiking trail, I was able to enjoy the rural scenery of Tai O, especially for the stilt houses inside the village. Since I don’t usually come here, I felt like I was going for an outing more than work =)

Tai O village and wala wala boats

Stilt houses

On my first time to Shum Wat, the wind was pretty strong and we got a record of Beaufort 4-5. Although it was quite difficult to do the scans, we were able to spot two dolphins appearing about 300 m away from the shore. They were swimming towards the Shum Wat Bay but we lost track of them shortly afterwards. I think it was one of the closest encounters I ever had when doing land-based surveys; I could even see their skin patterns clearly through the binoculars! As for the second time, the weather was very hazy and since the dolphins were spotted far away, we failed to track all of the groups. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my time there. Apart from the dolphins, I have noticed the construction area of the HKZM Bridge has been expanding ever since. The structure of the main bridge could be clearly identified now and there were more construction boats stationing in the area. Knowing that the Chinese white dolphins also live in the waters near Shum Wat, I hope we can still see them around after the bridge was built.

                                  Shum Wat station, with the HKZM bridge construction site at far

                                                              

                                          Our little friend basking in the sun

Tiff =)