3-July-2014 ~Sunny~
My mum is so annoying, she’s very strict and gives me absolutely no freedom whatsoever. Since the day I was born, she’s kept me by her side monitoring my every move I make. I’m not allowed to go out alone and if I take an extra stroke from her she gets nervous over nothing. There are even certain areas I am not allowed to go to at all. All the dolphins my age have long been independent. Look at Hopper, his mum (Mickey) is so carefree. I really couldn’t take it anymore and left the house one day after an argument left me telling her that I never wanted to live with her again. I regretted this immediately as her eye started to water. She asked Ms. Knife and Ms. Melody to come over and they told me to follow them.
The four of us departed from Sunny Bay and swam towards the direction of The Brothers Islands. I guess our destination should be Lung Kwu Chau, mum used to occasionally take me there to hunt for fish. On our way, you could hear plenty cargo vessel engines with their low drum. They came and go but at a reasonable speed and mum taught me how to avoid them since a young age. As we passed The Brothers Island, mum told me to stay closer. At the same time, Ms. Knife and Ms. Melody were on either side of me, making sure I was keeping up. The various noises got louder and louder. Large vessels I never knew existed appeared.
“Mum, where are we going? I thought I wasn’t allowed here” I asked.
However, my mum just kept sprinting towards the restricted area just north of the airport. Calling after her was futile; I could barely hear myself. Then before I knew it, I heard two huge engines coming for me from two different directions. These were the infamous high speed ferries. Why were there two coming my way at the same time? I did my best to catch up with my mum while avoiding all the vessels as we kept swimming west parallel to the airport runways. There were a total of 15 high speed ferries which passed by us during that short journey! I nearly didn’t make it once but Ms Knife managed to push me out danger in the nick of time.
After a frightful journey we made it to Sha Chau. I had never experienced or imagined anything like this in my life. Ms. Knife very earnestly said to me, “You have the best mum and you should cherish her.”
I understood why mum had to do everything she did. Mum, I’m sorry.
Flaws of the Third Runway EIA report (17)
In the EIA report, the Hong Kong Airport Authority suggests that the high speed ferry routes can be altered so that go around the north of Lung Kwu Chau and and ships that are close to the marine park must limit the speed to 15 knots. However, HKAA fails to mention if the suggested precautions have been discussed with related government departments as feasible for all vessels. Also, the 10 knot speed limit within the marine park has seen to be effective in ensure that safety of the dolphins; a 15 knot speed limited is an unsupported and unacceptable speed limit as the effect of noise as well as speed was not accessed. Dolphins rely heavily on sound for daily activities and the EIA report fails to consider this at all when assessing the impact. This clearly shows that the EIA report is not well rounded or comprehensive.
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