To celebrate World Ocean’s Day 2022, 勃勃海洋 Living Seas Hong Kong is organising a Marine Survey Dive on Saturday 11th June.

The objective is to have a fun day out exploring a dive site in the Sai Kung area, and then record what we find.

All records will be entered into our growing database. We are aiming to more fully understand what can be found at different sites at different times of the year.

We are looking for experienced divers to join us. If you are interested please do click on our Event Registration link.

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The aim of the group is to discuss and raise awareness of marine conservation issues in Hong Kong, aimed at anyone interested in Marine life and marine conservation in Hong Kong.

The gathering is at HKU, Pokfulam and starts at 6:30pm and will finish at 8:00pm

The topics for this first gathering are:

1. Developing Sustainable Fisheries:  where have we got to, what still needs to be done.  By Dr Andy Cornish
2. The making of the Hong Kong Reef Fish Guide by Dr. Allen To and Mr. Stan Shea

Leaflet from the talk below.  Hope to see you there.

The post Hong Kong Talk Ocean : First Gathering appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

To the credit of the Hong Kong authorities (AFCD) when they realized that the whale was showing signs of distress from this attention, they quickly implemented measures to ensure that disturbance to the animal was minimised.  These measure included:

1. Release of a press release to remind the public that the humpback whale is a protected species in Hong Kong and urged visitors not to attempt any close encounters and that they might be in breach of the Protection of Wild Animals Ordinance.
2. Additional manpower and vessels were deployed on the 20 March to guard against any harassment to the whale.
3. A notice was prepared and handed out to all boaters, soliciting their support in staying away from the whale .

These steps were successful and the whale has not been seen since the 26th March.

So what are the lessons?

All cetaceans are listed under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance even though there are very few instances of whales in Hong Kong waters. Although the Hong Kong authorities do not have any specific measures that they have implemented to protect whales however they have shown that they can react quickly and rapidly introduce effective measures to ensure that potential harm to these animals in Hong Kongs waters are minimised.  This is in sharp contrast to the situation for other internationally protected marine species.

In Hong Kong fish and marine invertebrates are specifically excluded from protected.  Yes that is correct,   ALL marine fish and ALL marine invertebrates are excluded and not protected.  This would include IUCN Redlisted species such as whale sharks, humphead wrasse, Hong Kong grouper, Chinese bahaba.  Two whale sharks were killed last year in Hong Kong and because of the lack of real protection under Hong Kong law there was nothing that could really be done.

This is inconsistent and needs to be resolved.

Living Seas Hong Kong continues to work with a broad range of Hong Kongers to ensure that this gap in legislation is plugged, please do get involved by visiting our website often.

The post Lessons from the recent humpback whale visit appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

Photo:EPA

There is an implication in this notice that people can be prosecuted under the “Wild Animal Protection Ordinance” and subject to a fine and imprisonment.  We are happy that the Hong Kong government is taking a strong stance to protect this internationally protected species.

This is a stark contrast to the position regarding other marine species.

Living Seas Hong Kong has written to the SCMP on Wednesday 18th March, regarding this issue. Our letter was as follows:

“What an amazing occurrence, a humpback whale swimming freely in the Lamma Channel, in Hong Kong waters..  A beautiful animal, a harmless filter feeder that sifts seawater to feed on very small marine life, an internationally loved species.  All whales are protected internationally and cetaceans are fully protected in Hong Kong waters and rightfully so.

I am struck by the contrast to last year and the whale shark that died in Hong Kong waters early last June. 

That whale shark in question was a 5 metre youngster, also a harmless filter feeder and also swimming in the Lamma Channel but he didnâ€t survive to do what come naturally, a migration to feeding grounds or to breed.  He died after a struggle in a fishermenâ€s net that lasted hours.  Unfortunately in Hong Kong these wonderful animals are not protected and nothing could be done if this tragic event were to re-occur.  Most of our neighbouring countries have enacted a full ban on the fishing of whale sharks and these fish are revered, whale sharks are also protected under various international treaties to which Hong Kong and China are signatories, however there is no protection for wonderful marine animals such as whale sharks in Hong Kong waters.

We sometimes appear to have exotic and wonderful marine animals coming into our waters, they are visitors and should be allowed to continue their journey freely. Asia’s World City  owes the marine life and our neighbours nothing less.”

The post Strong appeal to leave whale in peace appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

Exciting news is the discovery in the Lamma channel of a humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) cruising the lamma channel.  News reports indicate that the whale, a ten metre specimen was probably heading up the coast towards artic waters and just got a little lost.  The humpback whale is a cetacean that is known to migrate upto 25,000 kms, this is the first record of a humpback whale in Hong Kong waters.

In Hong Kong waters the whale will face threats from the heavy ship traffic and potential entanglement in fishing nets.  This is a worrying situation for this whale and we are all hoping that it will manage to head out to open seas very quickly.

Report from the SCMP can be found HERE

All cetaceans are protected under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance unlike most other species of marine animals found in our waters.  Living Seas Hong Kong is working towards getting full protection for all endangered and important marine species.

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Shelter Island has a primarily shallow sandy bottom with many large underwater boulders, but there are also sparse areas of hard corals, as well as several species of sea urchins and sea anemones dotting the seabed.  Large mottled sea stars (飛白楓海星 – Archaster typicus) crawl around slowly.  On an ordinary dive, you are likely to see Clark’s Anemone fish (Clownfish – Amphiprion clarkii) and translucent Anemone Shrimp huddling in the anemones for protection.  Also commonly seen are marbled rockfish, schools of several different species of both Cardinal and Damselfish, as well as Gobies hiding in their burrows, or sometimes in empty shells or bottles.  Occasionally pufferfish, or even medium sized groupers, snappers and sweetlips might pass by.

Unfortunately, another common sight, especially in winter, is discarded fishing nets.  Many fishermen apparently cast their nets in the winter when they are less disturbed by pleasure boats or divers in the water.  By Spring every year, a new set of discarded fishing nets can be found all across Port Shelter.

The post Living Seas HK Local Winter Diving Trip appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

The basic sequence in this incident:

1. A woman saw horseshoe crabs outside a restaurant being taunted by tourists
2. She politely asked the restauranteur to please put the animals back into a tank to avoid it been hurt.
3. An argument ensued.
4. Unfortunately someone decided to show who was boss by jumping on top of one the horseshoe crabs.
5. The woman was arrested after trying to rescue the remaining horseshoe crab.

The following video from YouTube shows horseshoe crabs and the unfortunate and abusive way that they are used by restauranteurs to attract customers.

This particular unfortunate incident illustrates the cruelty of the restaurant trade to marine animals.  With withnesses this behaviour could have been reported under the cruelty to animals ordinance, however it wasn’t possible in this case.  Reports can be made to 1823, the government hotline number.  The display of horseshoe crabs onto pavements outside restaurants is more difficult to stop under current laws.  Potentially it is an illegal use of public space.  Judy is exploring what can be done in this area.

Horseshoe crabs are fascinating animals, pretty much unchanged for 445 million years, they are actually not crabs at all and are more closely related to scorpions and spiders. They are rare in Hong Kong waters and only found in a few areas.  So please don’t consume them or frequent restaurants that abuse this wonderful creature.

However ultimately even though this species are listed on the AFCD website as deserving conservation (click HERE to access AFCD website) they are not protected by law in Hong Kong.  Living Seas Hong Kong is working on getting endangered marine animals protected under the “Protection of Wild Animals Ordinance”, a campaign that is still running its course.

Comments are welcome.

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Please do go and find out for yourself the beauty that still exists in select locations in Hong Kong.  Locations that urgently require better protection.

Poster for the exhibition

Click for larger image

The exhibition is brought to you by Eco-Education Resources Centre http://www.erc.org.hk/

The post Sharp Island Marine Ecology exhibition appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

See the article on the HK government website

Click HERE for government article

Two letters have been written and published by the SCMP.  These letters can be found as follows:

From Ken Chan on the 2nd June

Click HERE for Ken Chan letter

From David O’Dwyer  on the 6th June

Click HERE for David O’Dwyer letter

The post Concerned about LCSD overreaction to bamboo shark discovery appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.

Whitetip reef sharks, are not listed as threatened…. yet

The report lists the following recommendations for governments.

1. Establish and enforce science-based catch limits for sharks and rays
2. Ensure an end to shark finning (removing fins and discarding bodies at sea)
3. Improve the monitoring of fisheries taking sharks and rays
4. Invest in shark and ray research and population assessment
5. Minimize incidental catch (‘by-catch) of sharks and rays
6. Cooperate with other countries to conserve shared populations

Full story can be found HERE

Everyone can also help by ensuring that they do not consume sharksfin soup, the major cause of the species decline.

The post 11 sharks and rays newly listed on the IUCN redlist appeared first on Living Seas Hong Kong.