MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2001

HK's growing threat of toxic poisoning

HONG KONG (AFP) - A baby "pink" dolphin was found floating belly-up Sunday, off Hong Kong's northwest coast, highlighting the growing threat of toxic poisoning to the territory's resident cetaceans, environmentalists said.

The newborn's carcass was spotted by a tour guide who was leading a regular dolphin sighting trip off the north of Lantau island, according to Hong Kong DolphinWatch general manager Bill Leverett.

"The guide said that a group of about four or five adult dolphins were surrounding the baby. Some were holding up the body and looked as though they might be trying to turn it over, possibly to expose its blow-hole to the air," Leverett said.

The body was to have been picked up by Hong Kong's Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation department at about 11:45 am. However, a spokesman for the department said they were unable to find the dead dolphin. Leverett said that about a dozen dolphins, also known as the Indo-Pacific Humpback or the Chinese White Dolphin, are found dead each year with the majority of those newborns.

He told AFP that toxic pollution pumped into the Pearl River Delta area accumulated in the fatty tissue of dolphins which would then pass it on to newborns.

 

Copyright © 1999 Brunei Press Sdn Bhd. All rights reserved.