Not long after the death of the Bryde’s whale in late July, another whale (likely to be a Pygmy sperm whale or dwarf sperm whale) was found in the Hong Kong waters. The last tragedy alerted the Hong Kong citizens and the government to act more promptly to prevent further injury caused to this second whale.

The necropsy team indicated the cause of death of the Bryde’s Whale, which was sighted in late July, was likely caused by the fresh cut in front of the whale’s dorsal fin by ship blades or propellers. Citizens and animal protection organisations blamed the government for its slow response regarding possible actions that could be done to protect the Bryde’s Whale. The past has already happened, and people cannot erase or change it. What we can do at present is to do the next right thing.

Let’s review the policies and actions the Hong Kong Government has taken towards protecting marine animals.

To begin with, the Hong Kong Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) issued a pressed release on 27th July 2023 regarding the Bryde’s Whale’s appearance in Hong Kong waters, confirming that Whales are protected under Schedule 2 of the Wild Animal Ordinance (Cap 170) in Hong Kong. In situations where citizens or people engaged in irresponsible whale-watching behaviour “may constitute an act of wilful disturbance of protected wild animals, and such behaviour would constitute a convictable offence to a maximum of one-year imprisonment and a fine of $100,000. However, note that the protection towards irresponsible whale-watching behaviour would only arise when the Director applied for a special permit when he/she finds it necessary under section 15 of the same article.

Since both whales were found to have wounds caused by the shipping vessels, there are indeed ordinances on vessels proceeding at a safe speed in specified zones set by the ordinances. Concerning the Shipping and Port Control Regulations (Cap 313A) and the Merchant Shipping (Local Vessels)(General) Regulation (Cap 548F), if a vessel’s length is over 60 metres, it has a maximum speed of 8 knots, 10 knots and 15 knots in Zone A, B, and C respectively. Whereas for vessels that are 60 metres or less they have a maximum speed limitation of 10 knots in Zone A and 15 knots in both

Zone B and Zone C. As stated in these ordinances, a breach of speeding would have resulted in a conviction with a maximum fine penalty of $10,000 and 6 months imprisonment. With such deterring effects stated in these ordinances, vessel’ captains should abide by them to prevent accidents or casualties to humans and animals.

Besides the pre-existing articles that are said to be providing protections to vulnerable wild animals (that, to a certain extent, are not so far-reaching to the ears of the public), the AFCD and other animal conservation organisations have issued notices and announcements, hoping citizens not to cause disturbance to the wildlife habitat. As everyone knows, advice and announcements do not have the authority to restrict the curiosity of the whale-watching audiences and only impose a certain degree of awareness on people who have followed their social media.

On top of that, the Marine Mammal Conservation Working Group has worked with the AFCD in issuing a Code of Conduct for Dolphin Watching Activities. Although the code of conduct only applies to dolphin-watching activities, the scope of the content can be modified or applied to cetaceans that could appear in Hong Kong waters accordingly, concerning the difference in sizes, capacities and sensitivity of whales. Currently, the code of conduct is only for a voluntary observational basis without any enforceable authority.

The content of the code of conduct is as follows:

General rule: Look from a distance and do not seek to contact, touch, feed or harm marine wildlife

• Maintain forward progress at a slow, steady speed or stop with no sudden course changes. Boat speed should not exceed 10 knots.

• Only one dolphin-watching vessel should be within 500 meters of a group of dolphins.

• Always slow down to no-wake speed or stop if animals appear directly ahead within 100

  meters.

• Never approach dolphins head-on; approach at an angle.

• Never conduct reverse throttling in the vicinity of dolphins.

• Never chase or cut across the course of dolphins, separate mothers and calves, split up groups or 'corner' dolphins between boats, nets or shore.

• Never attempt to touch, swim with, or feed the dolphins.

• Do not litter or dispose of any fuel, oil or other pollutants in the water.

• Respect the dolphins and let them make the choice to approach or flee. If a group of dolphins is difficult to observe and elusive, leave them alone and try to find a more cooperative group.

• When observing, always parallel the dolphin's course at a slow speed.

• When observing dolphins which are following pair trawlers, the following needs to be observed:

  • the position of the dolphin-watching vessel relative to the marker buoy of the trawl net should change as slowly as possible.

  • after trawlers have hauled up the net, do not move away immediately or at high speed. Move away from the area at low speed very cautiously and ONLY after the dolphins have dispersed.

  • Nevertheless, these announcements and the code of conduct are still better than nothing, i.e., not knowing how long or when the government will take action to protect the animals.

Early in 2021, the Guangxi province in China witnessed a rare whale-seeing phenomenon. However, the provincial government and The Weizhou Island Tourism Area Management Committee notified the public through its WeChat public account, announcing that they have not promoted whale-watching tours. At the same time, they jointly issued the "Weizhou Island Whale Protection and Maintenance of Marine Ecological Environment Initiative" in conjunction with the local ocean and fishery departments, calling on island residents, businesses and tourists to cherish and care for whales, and not to take boats out to sea to watch whales without authorisation. Additionally, fishing vessels must avoid areas where whales appear to protect the safety of whales and allow whale populations to bloom on Weizhou Island.

Although the rare appearance of whales in Hong Kong happens only once in a blue moon, the finding of the first whale carcass also contemplated the society’s need for wildlife protection. With public engagements and the reminder of the previous tragedy, the media have minimised the outreach regarding its appearance, preventing further distress to this innocent whale that mistakenly entered Hong Kong waters.

Besides all of these existing measures, what else can we do? Type in the comment session below and let us know!

Courtesy of Eufrosina Liu