Hong Kong - A lost humpback whale's efforts to find it way
out of busy shipping lanes around Hong Kong was Thursday enthralling
people in the former British colony.
The plight of the 10-metre adult whale has for two days made
television and newspaper headlines in the normally money-obsessed
city, providing an unexpected distraction from a tide of bleak
economic news.
The humpback whale, the first ever seen in Hong Kong waters, is
believed to have become separated from a group of whales migrating
from the tropical waters where they spend winter to their summertime
Arctic feeding grounds.
It was first spotted surfacing, raising its tail and exhaling
water through its blow hole Monday and Tuesday in busy shipping lanes
close to Hong Kong's landmark Victoria Harbour.
On Wednesday night, it had moved to the south of Hong Kong island
and appeared to be heading eastward to the usual northerly migration
route for whales in the South China Sea.
However, a kayak paddler who tailed it for several hours Thursday
said it appeared to be no closer to the open sea and was disoriented
and confused by heavy shipping passing close to it.
Experts said they believe the whale is healthy and if it can find
its way into open waters, it should be able to rejoin other whales
and continue its route toward the Arctic.
However, boatloads of sightseers with cameras have headed out to
try to track the whale since it was first sighted, and an appeal has
been issued for people not to sail too close to the lost whale.
There were also concerns that there is a lack of food for the
whale in Hong Kong's heavily polluted waters, where fish stocks are
critically low, and the whale could weaken if it fails to find its
way out soon.
Whale expert Samuel Hung Ha-yiu, head of a research centre on
dolphins and porpoises, said trying to guide the mammal toward open
waters could be counter-productive.
'We recommend the government refrain from doing anything outside
of monitoring the animal,' he said, adding that trying to usher it
out would raise its stress levels and risk it becoming beached.
Photographs of the whale, meanwhile, have been sent to experts in
the United States, the Philippines and Japan to try to discover from
where it has swum to reach Hong Kong waters.
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