If you ask me whether or not I like Hong Kong, I will tell you I love Hong Kong!
We dolphins have lived in these waters for countless generations and this is our home. This is where we have grown up, where our roots are. Hong Kong is where we belong.
Whoops! I nearly forgot to introduce myself. I am Ms Knife, also known as NL139 by the scientists. If you look at my dorsal fin, you will see that it is almost like I have an injury from a knife which is partially where my name came from. The other reason I am called Ms. Knife is because The Brothers Island is my favourite place to hang around and in chinese they are known as the big and small “knife” islands.
North lantau waters is filled with memories of my life. Lots of tears and laughter happened here. Parents always want to raise their children in the best environment possible. Many years ago, when Chep Lak Kok airport started their reclamation, I left in hopes of finding a safer home for my family. However, I didn’t want to leave the history and roots of my family behind so I decided to come back to start a family.
Since then, I have had a few kids. It has been difficult because of the various developments in the waters north of lantau. Ever since the Chep Lak Kok reclamation, it has been very difficult to bring my kids to my favourite waters surround The Brothers Island. There used to be two ways to get there, one is now known as Urmston Road which is Hong Kong’s busiest shipping and vessel channel. We would be committing suicide if we continued to use that channel as up to a thousand large cargo vessel and high speed ferries use it in a single day. The alternative route is to swim past the north of Chep Lak Kok Airport and it is not much better. There is a narrow passage way we can swim by to try avoid ships and other human activities to get to the Brothers Island which is east of the airport. However, I have heard rumors that there are plans to reclaim land for a third airport runway. If that happens, we won’t be able to reach The Brother Islands anymore.
In 2004, when one of my babies passed away I broke down. I was very close to leaving north lantau waters forever. My home was being destroyed and my kids were having a difficult time growing up safely as well. I only stayed because a good friend of mine reminded me that this was our home. We needed to defend our home, defend our roots. We dolphins need your help to stop the damage brought to our home. The third runway is going to ruin us. Please don’t make us leave! Please don’t take our home!
Flaws of Third Runway EIA Report (3)
The EIA report acknowledge that Chinese white dolphins often use the proposed reclamation area for the third runway to travel between their various activity areas. This includes between Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park and The Brother Islands. The report also admits that the third runway will very seriously impact this travelling corridor in a negative way. Though there is a suggestion that dolphins may use waters further up north, this is an unsupported claim. The report fails to realise that the Urmston Road further up north is Hong Kong’s busiest shipping and vessel channel; not a feasible route for dolphins to take. Studies show that dolphins have already been avoiding that area. Why would they go back if the dangerous precede? The current Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge project has already caused dolphin activity in waters north west of lantau to almost completely disappear, an additional runway reclamation at such a large scale will completely wipe out dolphins to the north of lantau.
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