Few creatures in Hong Kong are as well-known and charismatic as the Chinese White, or “Pink” Dolphin. In my 5 years in the city, I’ve embarked on two boat trips seeking out these highly endangered cetaceans, with both yielding amazing sightings. The most recent one I did was with my grandma during February of 2020. She’s a wildlife enthusiast like me and hadn’t visited Hong Kong for over 15 years, so I wanted to treat her to an amazing day searching for Chinese White Dolphins. I booked us with the best dolphin watching operator in Hong Kong: the award-winning Hong Kong Dolphinwatch, the same tour where I’d seen 7 dolphins the year before! They are also a very important contributor to Chinese White Dolphin conservation in Hong Kong, which makes them an especially good operator to choose from. There are only 32 dolphins in the entirety of the territory, so seeing even one is an amazing experience.

We arrived at Tung Chung where our boat departed at around 10am and shortly after we were cruising through the jade-green waters of southern Lantau. It was quite chilly and breezy in the open water so we stayed in the main cabin for most of the trip.

It took about an hour and a half to reach the prime dolphin-watching waters. Our guides watched intently and shortly after noon they spotted our first Chinese White Dolphin! All 30 people on the boat almost simultaneously rushed the to the starboard deck for a glimpse of the marine mammal. He surfaced several times at a distance of about 100 meters in 5 minute intervals. We watched him for probably 20 minutes before he took a deep-dive up to 50 meters below the surface to hunt for fish. My photos weren’t the best, but the sheer fact the I enjoyed the encounter of such an amazing animal with my grandma more than compensated! Fun fact about Chinese White Dolphins- the pink color trait is found only within dolphins inhabiting the Pearl River Delta (including Hong Kong), and experts think it’s so that dolphins can identify one another in these silty estuarine waters. Cool!

For about 2 hours, we didn’t see any more dolphin activity, but as we were heading toward port, one individual made a surprise appearance. It was very close to shore and close to us! It only stuck around for several minutes but the encounter was still awesome. My grandma was thrilled!

We arrived at port around an hour later, both of us windswept and chilly from the wintery winds coming off the South China Sea, but delighted at the same time. We both absolutely love these rare creatures and the experience that came with seeing them. Chinese White Dolphin watching is truly a Hong Kong-only activity and one I recommend anyone do if visiting the city. It is also my hope that the government and private organisations like the Hong Kong Dolphinwatch will continue to conserve the dolphins and their habitat before its too late for them. Thanks for reading!

-Bennett

Mammal Species Recorded: (1 total)

Chinese White Dolphin