Lockdown in various countries led to a pause on various water activities like ferries as well and its effect is being seen in waters between Hong Kong and Macau where pink dolphins seem to be returning.?
This happened after the halt on ferries because of the pandemic, but their long term survival in one of the world's busiest sea lanes is still a matter of concern for scientists.?
Conservationists Naomi Brennan regularly board boats in the Pearl River Delta to document how the mammals, known for their pink colouring, are faring.
"Today we encountered three different groups of dolphins -- six adults and two sub-adults. They were engaging in a range of behaviour, from feeding to travelling and socialising,¡± AFP quoted her as saying.
Reportedly, the pink dolphin population in the past 15 years has fallen by 70-80% in one of the world's most industrialised estuaries.
This year, however, thanks to the pandemic their number seems to have bounced back.?
Since February, ferries between Hong Kong and Macau have been suspended, providing local marine scientists an opportunity to study how the mammals have adapted to the "unprecedented quiet".
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"We're seeing much larger group sizes as well as much more socialising, mating behaviour, which we hadn't really been seeing for the last five years or so," AFP quoted Dr. Lindsay Porter, a Hong Kong-based marine scientist as saying.?
According to Porter's research team, the number of pink dolphins has increased by roughly a third in those waters since March.
The Pearl River Delta is one of the most industrialised coastal areas on Earth. Apart from Hong Kong and Macau, there are Chinese mainland megacities like Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Dongguan, and is home to some 22 million people.
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The dolphins¡¯ habitat has also seen large-scale developments like construction of Hong Kong's airport on reclaimed land and the world's longest sea bridge connecting the financial hub to Macau and Zhuhai.
According to the WWF, there are only about 2,000 pink dolphins left in the Pearl River Delta -- the minimum number that conservationists think are needed to sustain the species.
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