Book Fair :)

It was so fun to work for book fair. Though the task was not related to dolphin conservation, it was actually so interesting.

On Tuesday, I was responsible for the preparation work of our booth.  I transported books from office to the venue with a porter who was so nice to me. I even learnt how to give commands for assisting a driver to park the truck. And I gladly did it.  The books we sold varied greatly. Most of them were about natural science, such as insects, butterflies, dolphins. Some were about hiking, climate and urban development.

After a whole day preparation, we finally finished.Wow!

At the beginning, I studied the content of those books and learnt to introduce them to customers. I also observed how the workers from other societies communicated with customers. Some of them are the writers of the books and some are professional in a particular area of natural science. They really made good use of their professional knowledge to attracted customers’ attentions. I was amazed by how they chatted with and educated customers so skilfully.

After observing how they worked, I felt a bit guilty that I was not knowledgeable enough about nature science and my introduction was comparatively boring. This showed a great need that I need to learn more not just about dolphins but also about many different areas.

It was so great to learn from this interesting task which was totally different from my routine. By the way, if you are interested in natural science, please feel free to visit our booth or purchase our books at book store. XD

Long awaited update

Hello again,

            Here is a long over-due update on my internship thus far. July was a crazy month for the HKDCS, with their heavy workload monitoring the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge construction, conducting baseline surveys for the Third Runway Airport Expansion EIA report, and carrying out regular monitoring surveys for the AFCD department of Hong Kong. Yet on top of all that the HKDCS partakes in an annual book fair at the end of July as well, where they sell educational books concerning dolphins as well as other plants and animals local to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Needless to say, with that workload everyone here has been very busy.

            I had family visit during July, so I’ve been off for a while. My first Monday back however, was in fact today. I helped conduct an underwater acoustic survey of the noise environment in the vicinity of the bridge construction works. We are doing this to monitor the noise pollution that comes from the pile-driving construction activities. It was really interesting to hear how the underwater noise environment sounds. We also had some good sightings today as well. It was great to see the dolphins being quite active, breeching and spy-hopping everywhere! Definitely a welcomed sight after some time away from them!

            Although July was a crazy month, more hard work is needed as well in August as there is a new development project that the HKDCS will be involved with. This project involves further land reclamation in an area that is highly important for the Indo-pacific Humpback dolphins. Therefore, we here at the HKDCS will be hard at work trying to protect our most favorite marine species from further human encroachment!

Until my next post,

Danielle

Hi everyone! I am Leslie, the currently newest intern here and I am studying Environmental Conservation Studies in Baptist University CIE. Having joined HKDCS for more than two weeks, I have learnt and experienced a lot.  

In the past two weeks, I have learnt the methodology of different kinds of surveys via reading and my first-hand experiences of conducting surveys. In fact, the books in relation to methodology are somewhat hard for me, a beginner, to comprehend. After several times of doing research, I have sparked some questions in my mind and I am eager to find out the answers on my own through reading. This is why Samuel and Vincent encourage me a lot to read. By reading, I can build up a boarder sense and a better understanding of the biology of dolphins.

   

However, what comes as the most important thing that I have learnt is not about technical skills and knowledge. It is “learning how to learn”, which does not only benefit my internship programme, but also my academy and many different areas in my future. Being an intern, I shadow the survey team very often. Being observant and sensitive is very important. Also, asking questions is the key to learning. As here are many experienced and professional researchers who are welcome to teach me and I am sure that I can learn a lot from them.

That’s all for now. Many interesting things are to be explored and I will share them with you soon. Thanks!

Fresh Off the Boat

What's good, everybody!

Let me just quickly introduce myself: I'm HKDCS' newest intern, Justin! I'm from Hong Kong but I am currently studying mathematics and computer science in University of California, Berkeley. One might say that my field of study is completely unrelated to marine biology, let alone dolphins. One might even ask what my porpoise (pun intended) for doing this internship is.

I'm doing this internship mostly out of self-interest and in order to get a taste of the gruelling field of research. Though this project is mostly about environmental conservation and marine biology, as an aspiring academic, I think and know that this internship will no doubt show me how researchers work and how to conduct successful research. Moreover, the mathematical concepts I have learnt in school made me wonder if I can apply some of those methods and concepts into the field of cetaceans, specifically the Hong Kong dolphins and porpoises.

As a Hong Kong local, I am quite aware of the ongoing reclamation and the recent Link Road project. Hearing concerns about the effects of such projects on the coastal ecology of Hong Kong, I believe that it is crucial for us humans to assess the impacts of our actions if we want to conserve the environment. By joining this internship, I hope to help develop the growing field of conservation in Hong Kong.

I've been interning at HKDCS for almost a month now. Although both sea and land-based surveys are quite strenuous, I have been learning a lot shadowing under the staff here. With the literature Samuel provides in the office, I learned how line transect gathers information regarding distribution, abundance and habitat use while theodolite tracking is mostly used for tracking the movement of dolphins in relation to surrounding disturbances.

In fact, the first dolphin I saw during this internship was when we were conducting land-based survey in Sha Chau. The four of them were traveling together and I was surprised by their cohesiveness as a group. Their shapes and appearance were very spectacular, but what amazed me was how they socialize together and act as some kind of family most of the time. After that day, it became a lot easier to spot and observe dolphins. And the more I watch them, the more I admire their diverse behaviour.

While conducting these surveys, the staff here at HKDCS are always helpful and would gladly answer any of my questions to help me learn. Shadowing and keeping up with them is not an easy task. But over the past few weeks, I think I've gotten at least a little bit better. As I continue this internship, I'll no doubt utilize what they've taught me and try my best to help conserve the vast cetacean world of Hong Kong!

That's it for now!

Justin

All you'll ever need.

First month at HKDCS!

Hello Everyone!

            My name is Danielle and I am one of the new interns here at HKDCS! My internship here in Hong Kong will help give me the credit I need to complete my Master’s degree in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) back at home in Montreal, Canada. I decided to apply for this internship as it perfectly integrates my passion for marine mammals with my academic interest in the EIA process. Here in HK there are so many on-going coastal development projects that it is amazing the dolphins and porpoises can survive in this environment. With all this development, it is imperative that the EIA system is applied properly in order to protect their habitat and conserve their populations.

            I’ve been here for approximately one month so far and I am amazed with how much I’ve learned in that short amount of time! I’ve learned how line-transect surveys are done in relation to cetacean research, how theodolite technology can be applied to track dolphins and their behavior, and finally I’ve learned about the different sorts of human disturbances that are currently threatening these cetaceans. Every day I learn something different, so it keeps the work very stimulating and very exciting!

            The first time I spotted a dolphin was actually on my very first boat outing! I was amazed by their beauty and also by their size! The first time I saw a mother-calf pair was also quite special – it’s heart-warming how the calf stays so close to his mother! Finally, the elusive finless porpoise is always so exciting to spot. I haven’t yet had a very good sighting of one (just a quick glimpse) so I’m very excited to go back out on a porpoise survey!

            Although, there is so much beauty here with these amazing creatures there are also many human disturbances that are affecting them as well. The day I saw a dead calf was a very sad day indeed! It was also very scary when I saw a dolphin inside a fishing net! Luckily he managed to find a way out and escaped!

            As beautiful as these creatures are they definitely need our help in face of all the threats they deal with. Interning here at the HKDCS has taught me so much and has given me a huge appreciation for conservation scientists. The staff here who work at HKDCS are wonderful people who really care a lot about cetaceans! I feel immensely lucky to not only be working with the dolphins and porpoises this summer, but also the great staff here at HKDCS as well!

            As I learn more and more this summer I’ll be sure to write again and update you all on the amazing experiences!

That’s it for now,

Danielle 

End of Internship

Hello again everyone!

The past month or so has been another busy month for everyone here at HKDCS! We have been out on the water rain or shine and it has started to get really warm! There is no shortage of sunscreen on the boat that is for sure! Michelle and I have even manage to get some really funky shoe tan lines.

This is what happens with you leave your phone out for 5 minutes with doing a land based survey at this time of the year!

The other day I went to Fan Lau for the very first time, we got to take a walla wall (speed boat) over and it was a lovely day for it. I think it was one of the hottest days yet that I've had here in Hong Kong and I was so grateful for the sun shade that we had set up.

Hiding from the hot sun

Boat ride to Fan Lau

We were really lucky while we were there, we had 6 separate groups of dolphins show up! This gave us lots to do with tracking the dolphins and the copious amounts of high speed ferries and ships that pass around Fan Lau. It also meant that at the end of the 6 hours tracking Michelle, Taison and myself got a chance to try and use the Theodolite. This proved to be a lot harder for all of us than expected. After a few goes tracking the high speed ferries became easier. However, the dolphins were much, much harder to track! I think I only got about 3 or 4 fixes in 40 minutes, and the lack of fixes was not due to the lack of dolphins :s. It certainly gave me a greater sense of respect for Perry, Leo and Vincent who are truly masters of the Theodolite!!

Perry operating the Theodolite

This month we also had a really lovely treat of going out to lunch as a team! This was to say goodbye to Jackin and Michelle who have both just left us to go to Vietnam and Canada. Lunch was a buffet and we all certainly did our best to eat as much as we could! I can without a doubt say it was the best meal I have had since being in Hong Kong! Thanks you very, very much Samuel! Here are a few pictures from lunch:

Michelle and her love for chocolate (and cheese)!! 

The team :)

The last two standing!

And the clear winner! Tony came to lunch fully prepared to eat more than anyone with that t-shirt on haha!

And the girls :)

Even though my internship is now over I am lucky enough to be staying on a little longer to help a graduate student with her PhD data. This will give me more time with the amazing people I have met while I have been here and more time to do what I can to help the amazing marine mammals here in Hong Kong. These mammals need all our help and what HKDCS is doing for them is invaluable! I am so grateful for the amazing experiences I have had while here and for everything that I have learnt from those around me (including the dolphins and porpoise :) )!

Thats all for now! Thanks again to everyone who made this experience so great!

Mairead :)

Promised Update!

Hello again everyone!

Just wanted to give you an update as promised!

The last two weeks have been very challenging for all of us here on the team! The weather has not been cooperating with us at all!!

                                                       Hong Kong Observatory

This is pretty much what the weather has looked like recently!! Rain, rain some more rain and a few thunder storms thrown in there too.

Despite this though we have all put on a brave face and been out there rain or shine (just not in the thunderstorms) completing out work!

The past day or two however, has been very pleasant I had a great day out at the airport yesterday with Karen and Leo working in the sun! We didn't see anything which did put a damper on the day but at least it wasn't raining!! :)

                                                  Mairead's Photo

This is me operating the computer by the water with the sun shining!

Some of the highlights and memorable events from the past few weeks:

-The other day we went out and did a boat survey in west Lantau. We had two great sightings of about 8-15 dolphins in each place! It had been over a week seen I had seen one of them and it was a welcomed sight!!

-At our second sighting in south west Lantau on the same day, however, we saw something very sad. A mother dolphin (spotted adult) was pushing around her dead baby with her rostrum. We got a few photos of the baby and it looked very small, possibly a still born. 

-Last friday we had a very similar situation, west of the airport we had another amazing sighting of 8 dolphins. After 30 minutes of watching them it became clear that there was another mother (spotted sub-adult) pushing around her dead calf. This calf looked much bigger and it is suspected that it died after birth. 

Both of these sightings last week are a very sad reminder that what we are doing is very important for the future of these amazing mammals and that they really do need ALL of our help!!

Well thats all for now! I will leave you to think about what you can do to help these amazing mammals and will post back again soon.

                                                                             Hong Kong Observatory

Wish us luck for this week!! We may have to deal with some more bad weather!!

Mairead