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Live stranding cases in Hong Kong |
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Up till now, ten live stranding cases have been recorded in Hong Kong so far. Most of the cases were reported in 1980s. Interestingly, in nine of the ten events, foreign cetacean species like bottlenose dolphin, spinner dolphin and pygmy sperm whale, instead of the local Chinese white dolphin and finless porpoise, were involved. Since 1992, no more live stranding case was reported. But ten years later, live stranded cetaceans were discovered again. In 2002-04, four cases were reported: |
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“Small whale”found stranded on Sai Wan, Sai Kung |
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On 19 August 2002, it was cloudy with typhoon signal No. 1 hoisted. Even so, quite a number of visitors still roamed about at Sai Wan beach in Sai Kung. At around 2 pm, some visitors found a “small whale”, which was in dark gray, stranded and struggling on the beach. Some enthusiastic people attempted to push it back to sea, but the “little whale” restranded later, and was trapped between rocks. People thus pulled it back to shallow waters and called police for help.
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Upon receiving stranding report, the Marine Police arrived at the beach soon. However, the sea was too rough for their vessel to near. Thus police officers hastened the beach on foot, and requested help from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD). |
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| Little whale confirmed to be False killer whale |
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| Cetacean researchers were notified by the AFCD of the incident at about 3-4 pm. Sai Wan beach was so secluded that no transport was available (except vessel). Hence researchers and AFCD officers had to walk all the way down from Sai Wan Pavilion to the beach, which took them about 45 minutes. And they finally arrived at the scene at dusk. At that time, light was gradually going out, the tide was coming in and the sea was rough, but two police officers still strived to hold the “little whale” to prevent it from being washed away by strong waves. The researchers had a series of things to do, including identifying its species, measuring its body length, assessing its condition and the surroundings, and taking photos. Also, all cell phone networks were out of reach in Sai Wan, so AFCD staff and researchers had to run back and forth to the local store for phone service. |
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| Soon the “little whale” was identified by the researchers as a False killer whale (which actually belongs to the dolphin family), with a body length of 2.14 m (amended later as 2.16 m). Initially AFCD intended to ask for veterinary assistance, yet before any vet arrived, the waves became too strong that the false killer whale finally extricated from the hold of the policemen and researchers. Afterwards they had searched the beach through, but they were unable to locate the false killer whale anymore. |
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| The carcass of the false killer whale was discovered by researchers the next morning on the same beach. It was later transported to the Tai Lung Laboratory in Sheung Shui for necropsy. The cause of death is to be determined. |
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Whale discovered on Tai Wan, Sai Kung |
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On 21 July 2003, typhoon signal no. 1 was hoisted. The researchers were informed of a live stranding at about 11:30 am. It was reported that a 20-feet long whale was washed ashore on Tai Wan beach in Sai Kung. Coincidently, the live stranding of a false killer whale in the previous year also happened on a coarse day with typhoon signal no. 1 hoisted, and at Tai Long Wan in Sai Kung (Sai Wan and Tai Wan are two of the four beaches of Tai Long Wan).
However, Tai Wan was even more remote than Sai Wan. It took at least two hours to walk there either from Sai Wan Pavilion and Chek Keng. Finally researchers, officers and two vets from the AFCD were dispatched to the scene by helicopter of the Government Flying Service, and they arrived at Tai Wan at about 1 pm. To researchers’ surprise, the beached whale was a sperm whale, which had never been recorded in Hong Kong! To prevent the whale from being washed further ashore, many keen visitors were already trying their utmost to push the whale against the incoming surfs. When the waves retreated, some people poured water on the whale’s back to prevent it from overheat. |
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A juvenile whale |
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At that time the sperm whale lay on its right side of body, exposing its blowhole that is skewed to the left side of its head. It was struggling to breathe, and flapping its fluke. When the surfs came in, water went into its blowhole. In order to let it breathe smoothly without choking, all the helpers tried to lift its head a bit when the waves rolled in. At the same time, the vets conducted a preliminary examination on the whale, and researchers measured its body length. It was found that the whale was about 9 m long (later corrected as 8.72 m), probably a juvenile whale. |
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| The whale was finally euthanized |
| Vets from the Ocean Park arrived at about 4 pm. They helped to examine the whale’s condition further. Soon, fire services officers and about 50 AFCD staff came to help. The firemen even constructed a net to surround the whale, in an attempt to pull the whale to an upright position. However, the whale was too bulky, plus it was already embedded in the sand. All the efforts to pull it upright thus went in vain. After going a tough day, the physical condition of the whale declined. It even deliberately shut its blowhole and made some noisy clicks (indicating that it was intensely stressed and annoyed). Later on, its breath turned out to be weaker and weaker, and it stopped flapping its fluke. At about 7 pm, the vets of AFCD decided to euthanize the poor whale so as to end its suffering. |
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| Whale skeleton to be prepared |
| On the next day, the whale carcass was pulled out to sea by a large vessel to its burial site, which is near the West Dam of the High Island Reservoir. AFCD planned to dig out the whale skeleton about ten years later, which could be displayed for educational purposes afterwards. |
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A dolphin live stranded in Sam A Chung |
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Less than a month after the sperm whale stranding, a live stranding case of cetacean happened again in Hong Kong. At around 9 pm on 8 August 2003, a live dolphin was found stranded on a mudflat in Sam A Chung in Yan Chau Tong Marine Park by two local villagers. From its appearance, it was believed to be a Chinese white dolphin. After notification, all researchers had to rush to the scene immediately. At about 11 pm, researchers and AFCD staff went to Sam A Chung by AFCD marine park patrol vessel. |
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A Chinese white dolphin!!! |
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The beached dolphin was soon confirmed by the researchers as a Chinese white dolphin. According to our past record, Chinese white dolphins only inhabited waters off west of Hong Kong territory and in Pearl River Estuary. But this time the Chinese white dolphin surprisingly stranded on the northeastern part of Hong Kong. Researchers estimated that the dolphin might be driven by its companions out of its natural home range for some reasons. It got lost afterwards and eventually ended up in a remote area with which it was unfamiliar. The most heartbreaking thing to the researchers was that they found the skin of the dolphin severely infected. It was very lumpy all over its body. On its skin, there were numerous cuts and marks too, which were probably caused by the pointed oyster shells on the mudflat. |
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| The dolphin had severe skin infection |
| When discovered, the dolphin was laying on its side, and half of its body was submerged in water. When it needed to breathe, it had to lift its head out of water with much effort. At once, rescuers aided it to float upright in deeper water, therefore it could breathe more smoothly. As the dolphin was unable to maintain its balance in water, researchers had to hold it in shifts. They even talked to it to comfort it. At about 1 am, AFCD vet arrived and examined its body condition. He was astounded too by the severe skin infection of the dolphin, but considered transporting it to care facility feasible. Finally, AFCD requested the Ocean Park for assistance. |
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| Rescuers spent a whole night accompanying the dolphin. They also investigated its condition and behaviour. At first, the dolphin was rather stressed when the rescuers approached it, but later it calmed down. It even slept in their arms with eyes closed! When it woke up afterwards, it struggled violently to leave. The researchers recognized that it must be treated in order to be healthy again, and feared that it would restrand after release, so they tried their best to hold it with great effort. Later the dolphin became quiet again. |
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| Dolphin passed away in Ocean Park suddenly!! |
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| A team of Ocean Park staff arrived at the scene at about 7 am. They used the stretchers to lift the dolphin to the marine police vessel. The dolphin was then transported to Wong Shek Pier in Sai Kung, and to Ocean Park by lorry. A series of diagnosis and treatment were carried out on the dolphin after its arrival in the Ocean Park. A researcher went into the water with the dolphin and helped it to get adjusted to the unfamiliar environment. In the next few days, the dolphin showed signs of recovery, and it was even willing to feed. We researchers were thinking of returning it back to sea after it had recovered, and installed a radio or satellite transmitter on its dorsal fin to track its movement after release. However, it suddenly passed away early in the morning on 13 August 2003, and the reason was not known yet. Cause of death could only be confirmed by further investigation. |
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The dolphin was confirmed to be CH76 |
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In fact, this dolphin was not first seen by researchers. In the night when it stranded, researchers took photos of its dorsal fin. Later, they compared its dorsal fin shape with those in the current photo-ID catalog of HK dolphins, and found that it matched with one named CH76. The name CH76 means that the dolphin was the 76th dolphin found in Chinese waters by researchers. It was first sighted in the waters near Neilingding Island. And CH76 was last seen in waters off Tai O in April 2002, following pair trawlers for feeding. At that time, skin infection was already observed on CH76, but not as severe as when it stranded. Because CH76 finally stranded in Sam A Chung, it was nicknamed by us as “Sam”. |
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| Rough-toothed dolphin in Lamma Island |
| In the afternoon on 14 May 2004, researchers were informed that there was a dark dolphin swimming around near the sandy shore of a small bay of Lamma Island - Lo Tik Wan. Some local villagers had attempted to push the dolphin back to sea but this was proved unsuccessful. They finally reported the case to the police.
Lo Tik Wan was quite a remote area, so AFCD staff and researchers went to the scene by a Marine Police patrol vessel. They arrived at Lo Tik Wan near dusk, and saw a “black dorsal fin” moving on water surface from the deck already. Researchers identified the species of the dolphin instantly when they approached the dolphin - it was a rough-toothed dolphin! This dolphin species has a unique skull shape: it does not possess a protruding melon. There is no crease between the melon and its beak, making its head resembling a cone. This is a distinctive feature of rough-toothed dolphin thus researchers can tell what species it is at a glance. |
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| This dolphin did astound everyone as this species is oceanic and there was only one single report of a carcass of rough-toothed dolphin in Hong Kong before; and, rough-toothed dolphin is gregarious. Researchers estimated that this dolphin had separated from its main pod, then lost its way and finally entered HK waters. |
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| As this animal was still able to swim, researchers first swam it to deep water regions in an attempt to lead it out of Lo Tik Wan. But soon the dolphin headed back to shore region. And it was observed that the dolphin had some difficulties in surfacing to breathe. Finally AFCD decided to send their veterinarians to the site for further investigation. They also requested help from the Ocean Park. During this time, researchers took body measurement from the animal and assessed its body conditions. They also helped the dolphin float on water surface such that it could breathe more smoothly. |
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| After considering recommendations from the vets, AFCD decided to transport the animal to OP for rehabilitation. All people helped to move the dolphin from water to the Marine Police vessel, and later it was brought back to OP. Later the dolphin was confirmed to be a male dolphin, which was still in its juvenile stage. |
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| Since it was first discovered at Lo Tik Wan, the dolphin was later named by AFCD as “Siu Tik”. However, Siu Tik finally passed away in Ocean Park in March, 2005. |
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