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Strandings of Small Cetaceans in Hong Kong Territorial Waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

E.C.M. Parsons
E.C.M. Parsons
Affiliation:
The Swire Institute of Marine Science, Cape d’ Aguilar, Shek O, Hong Kong.
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Extract

Since official records were first initiated in 1973, there have been reports of 154 small cetacean strandings in Hong Kong territorial waters. The species Neophocaena phocaenoides (finless porpoise) and Sousa chinensis (Indo-Pacific hump-backed dolphin) accounted for 77% of these strandings. There are seasonal peaks in the number of reported strandings: Sousa chinensis is more frequently reported during the summer monsoon season and Neophocaena phocaenoides is more frequent in the winter. Almost a third of all finless porpoises stranded were calves. The number of reported small cetacean strandings in Hong Kong has increased dramatically in recent years; partially due to an increasing awareness of local cetaceans and possibly due to escalating levels of human disturbance and anthropogenic pollution.

Type
Short Communications
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , August 1998 , pp. 1039 - 1042
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1998

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