Celebrating World Oceans Day this week we have a guest post from Benita Chick, founder and CEO of Encompass HK, telling us about the amazing marine biodiversity in Hong Kong, and also listing some of the citizen science projects to help map and preserve this incredible resource.
Most people don’t think of Hong Kong as a marine biology hotspot. Most divers I know will flock to South East Asia or Maldives for diving once they have a long vacation. However, as a scuba diving instructor for over 20 years, and having studied marine biology in college, I argue otherwise and think Hong Kong is a fantastic place to discover marine biodiversity.
Hong Kong only has 0.03% of the marine area in China but contributes to about 26% of its marine species. In terms of species, our number of marine species (5943) rivals that of the Baltic Sea (6065). There are also 84 species of hard corals found in Hong Kong waters, which is more than the whole of Caribbean which only has 70 species. Take a moment to digest these facts! Because of the unique hydrogeography of our environment, we are able to receive warm water from the Pacific Ocean from the Kuroshio current. Our habitats are varied and include sandy shores, rocky shoes, mangroves, seagrass, coral reefs and mud flats. These unique factors account for the high biodiversity in Hong Kong’s oceans.
In Hong Kong, we have 6 marine parks and 1 marine reserve that protect many of our marine habitats. The 3 marine parks in northeastern Side (Tung Ping Chau, Hoi Ha, and Yan Chau Tong) are protected because of their coral and reef species, whereas the 3 on the south-western side (Sha Chau & Lung Kwu Chau, Southwest Lantau, The Brothers) are protected for their Chinese White Dolphins. One might ask — why are the corals found in the eastern side only? That has to do with the turbidity of the oceans on the western side of Hong Kong due to the freshwater runoff from Pearl River Delta which also lowers the salinity and inhibits coral growth.
There is big fauna to see in Hong Kong, these includes whalesharks, tiger sharks, hammerhead sharks and many species of rays that are found in our waters. Blacktip reef sharks, Bamboo sharks, Great Barracuda are also common in Hong Kong. If you are into turtles, 5 out of 7 of the sea turtle species are found in Hong Kong, where Green Turtles are most common and can found nesting in Sham Wan. They are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change as the sex of their eggs are temperature dependent, where only females are produced at higher temperatures (above 30.4°C) and predominantly males are produced at lower temperatures (below 29°C).
Whereas most people think sharks are dangerous in the water, personally I think the risk of getting attack by sharks in Hong Kong is very low. There are some other species in our waters that are small but highly poisonous, including the Blue Ring Octopus, Stonefish, Lionfish, Lion’s Mane Jellyfish and the Cone Snail, where an adult can be killed in 4 minutes if being attacked. This is not to say we should be afraid of the water but you definitely want to be careful with what you touch!
How you can help? Citizen Science to the rescue!
So what are some ways we can protect our oceans? If you are a diver, you can participate in citizen science research through Reef Check, where you can participate in coral health and reef monitoring. The Reef Check program has been run in Hong Kong for over 20 years now with many divers contributing to obtain data on coral reef status in order to allow them to be managed on local and regional scales.
The 114°E Reef Fish survey is another citizen science led online directory for reef fish, that contains live photographs and full profiles of nearly 400 species from at least 88 families of reef fishes found in Hong Kong waters. Debris Tracker is a smartphone app to harness the power of citizen science to fight ocean plastic and other types of marine pollution. You can also be more mindful on your seafood consumption by checking whether the fish you are eating are sustainable with the WWF Sustainable Seafood Guide.
You can also join one of eco-tours to the Hong Kong marine parks such as Hoi Ha and the Nine Pins Islands with Encompass HK, where promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 (Life Below water) is one of our missions. I truly believe in learning more about the oceans and being out in the oceans will give you a first-hand experience on the biodiversity out there.
As Jane Goodall said, “Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, we will help. Only if we help, we shall be saved.”
Further reading to learn more about the HK Marine Environment
114°E Reef Fish survey https://www.114ehkreeffish.org/
Hong Kong Biodiversity Information System (HKBIS) http://www.nature.edu.hk/about-hkbis
WWF Hong Kong https://www.wwf.org.hk/
HK Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department https://www.afcd.gov.hk
Hong Kong Marine Classroom https://www.facebook.com/HongKongMarineClassroom/
About Benita Chick
Benita is an avid scuba diving instructor with over 20 years of diving experience. She holds a Biology and Marine Biology degree from Cornell University and Boston University respectively. She is currently the Founder and CEO of Encompass HK, a HK-based social enterprise promoting the Sustainable Development Goals through experiential-learning workshops and tours. She previously contributes in the Citizen Science area with her role as Regional Manager for Earthwatch Institute.
Marine Biodiversity and Conservation in Hong Kong was originally published in The CitizenScience.Asia Journal on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
