One misty morning
SF: Mum, where are we going? Aren’t we going to my singing lesson? My teacher said we’re learning a new song today!
Sn: My darling Snowflake. Let’s take a little trip to Lung Kwu Chau before we go to class. I had a dream about Ringo last night and feel a little nostalgic. You remember Ringo right? Mum’s friend.
SF: I do, and I miss her too. I was very fond of her and she was of me too.
Sn: Do you still remember the time when we tried to persuade Ringo to come with us and find a better environment but she wouldn’t leave Lung Kwu Chau whatsoever?
SF: Then we ended up going with Mickey very far West. To be honest, it was kind of noisy, but I don’t understand why Ringo didn’t want to at least come with us to see what it was like
Sn: She said that Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau had a very special place in her heart. She’s lived for decades and the humans established the two island as a Marine Park as a gift to us dolphins. For that reason, she wanted to treasure and protected the place
SF: But Mum, that marine park came at the cost of us losing so much water to the humans reclaiming land for an airport. Plus, that was our already our home before the humans “gifted” it to us.
Sn: I don’t know why Ringo always defended the humans either even though they have brought us harm. They come to us when they please and dispose of them when we are in the way of their profits. I don’t understand why she sees them as such dear friends. Seeing the humans constantly acting so recklessly against us makes me feel so sorry for poor Ringo. Oh I do miss her.
SF: You mean there is more than the bridge business? They’ve taken enough of our homes. What more do they want?
Sn: A cold shiver goes down my spine when I think about the third runway they want to reclaim. Their “specialists” don’t seem to understand that the ocean isn’t unlimited. We can’t keep giving up our home. What’s even more saddening is, the reclamation area will be dangerously close to Sha Chau. Think about all the boats that will pass by and ruin our safe haven. That was exactly what Ringo wanted to prevent and project her whole life.
SF: Mum, I hate the humans.
Sn: Darling daughter, you’re a big girl now and mum can’t tell you what you can and cannot think. I might not always be right. To be honest, I really home what Ringo believes will be true. There must be a reason Mother Nature put us and the humans together. There must be a way to live together as friends. You might not understand what I am saying but when you do, you must promise me to look for the way.
SF: I will protect what Ringo wanted to protect. She was your friend and my role model. I won’t forget what she wishes. Mum, we must come to Sha Chau more often.
Sn: We will. It will be our way of letting Ringo know that we miss her and she will forever live on in our hearts.
Sn=Snowy
SF=Snow Flake
Note: Snowy is known by the scientists as NL104. She has known to have three offsprings and the most recent one was born in 2011 October. Although it has almost been 3 full years, this calf still follows her around.
On the other hand, Ringo, also known as NL104, who was mentioned in the story was first spotted 1995 October in North Lantau waters. She had a very obvious scar around the whole of her neck and it is assumed that it was caused by fishing nets. Unfortunately, Ringo was found dead on 15th February 2014 at Tuen Mun near Hong Kong Gold Coast and ended the 19 years of tracking with her. Her death was very sudden due to an unknown cause. It felt like we weren’t able to say our farewells and apologies. Sorry that we humans wrecked your home.
Ringo, we miss you.
Flaws of the Third Runway EIA report (27)
The EIA report mentions that it would only be appropriate to evaluate the effective measures of possible mitigation proposals such as establishing marine parks (section 13.11.5.43). However, there is no accurate way of determining how effective the proposed Marine Park will be are there are no previous cases in Hong Kong. The Airport Authority do not seem willing to wait to see if the proposed Brothers Island marine park, which will be established in 2016, and use it as a case study. Instead, the Airport Authority suggests that we should “believe in the dolphins” and that they will come back. This is a very unscientific claim without any supporting evidence at all.
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