Have you bought the Explorer’s guide to Hong Kong’s water? If you haven’t make sure you don’t!
He was selling them for 3 croakers and it was buy one get one free at his promotional event. He’s the renown travel blogger and guide and I was so excited get his guide for such a good deal. However, it was all a scheme to get rid of his books.
Though I still sometimes hang out with my mum, I like to explore places and travel. That’s why I bought Explorer’s guide; I was going to follow it and travel around Hong Kong to discover some hidden secrets. However, what I found was the complete opposite. The first place I wanted to go to was The Brothers Islands. It’s always been a nice safe haven for us dolphins and I hadn’t been in a while. Plus its said to be establish as a marine park in 2016 for us! It all seemed dandy and good but I soon realised it was far from that. The first problem was how to even get to The Brothers Island safely. There were so many high speed ferries especially those coming out of Sky Pier, I nearly thought I wouldn’t be able make it through alive. I thought the worse was over when I made it past the ferry routes, then I came to a very unfamiliar sight. At first I thought I had somehow gotten lost. The multiple reclamation works have changed the area so much since I was last there. Reclamation for the Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facility is also awfully close to The Brothers Island. The whole situation makes me doubt if setting up a marine park here in 2016 will be useful at all? Everything will have been changed and damaged. It seems our safe haven is not longer so safe.
Since I was in North East Lantau waters already, I decided to roam around a bit. The longer I stayed, the more depressed I got. Asides from all the reclamation work, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge construction was well on its ways. An army line of pillars were rising from the ruined sea beds obstructing my ability to swim freely around. The construction boats seemed to be parked long term and the transportation boats were also quite a nuisance. I tried my best to avoid those areas, but the deafening noise from the construction can be heard from miles away. I retreated to Shau Chau and Lung Kwu Chau marine park for a while to find a little peace. It seemed that a lot of dolphins have moved and settled here recently due to all the other disturbances especially in North Lantau waters. It was packed of dolphins.
When night fell, I took the opportunity to have a look at the restricted area north of the airport. This was one of the few places that was accurate the Explorer’s guide. It was quiet at night and there were enough fish for a good meal. A well kept secret indeed. However, it seems that we are going to now lose this as well.
The humans want to reclaim another 650 hectares of land north of the airport for a third runway. It will be awfully close to the Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park and just think of all the vessels that will be around. It’s going to be a disaster. To be honest, I know it isn’t Explorer’s fault that his guide isn’t up to date. The humans are developing so much so fast in North Lantau. What once was our home is now their land. They never know what is enough and they need to be stopped. Help us protect our home.
Flaws of the Third Runway EIA report (25)
The timing of the establishment of the new marine park is also a critical problem. The traveling corridor will be seriously affected by the reclamation works and high speed ferry traffic from Sky Pier throughout the construction period, but the marine park will be established AFTER the construction finishes in 2023. The EIA report did not address how they are confident the dolphins will still be able to survive and return, with just the standard mitigation measure in relation to construction works, which are ineffective by any means for such huge amount of habitat loss and great disturbance during the construction work.
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