The Sad Truth About the Dwindling Pink Dolphins
Pink dolphins, also known as the Chinese White Dolphin or the Indo-Pacific Humpbacked Dolphin. are native to the shallow coastal waters near Hong Kong and its surrounding islands. Despite the nick name, most Chinese White Dolphins are not pink. In fact, the color of pink dolphins is quite variable and could be grey, pink, white or even spotted.
Chinese white dolphins are rarely seen, so we don't know much about this illusive dolphin species and how they live. What is known is that Chinese white dolphins are found in both the Indian and the Pacific Ocean. Specimens in the Indian Ocean have a hump, while those found in the Pacific Ocean have a very small hump or no hump at all.
The Chinese white dolphin is almost black at birth, and the animal's color changes as it grows, turning white, grey or pink. In fact, It is thought that the pink coloring may stem from their diet since pink dolphins are not born pink.
Diet may contribute to their color because the pink dolphin eats crabs and shellfish, foods that are known to have a color-changing effect on flamingos. Since color changes happen as the dolphin ages, it is thought that the food they consume may enhance their coloring, resulting in a light shade of pink.
The Chinese white dolphin is one of several endangered species of dolphin, and this is largely due man's influence on their habitat. It became clear that the population of this dolphin species was on the decline when studies were conducted in the early 1990s on the area surrounding the proposed Chek Lap Kok airport in Hong Kong.
It became clear that the construction and dredging projects preparing for the new airport affected these rare dolphins when a well-known and regularly seen pod of up to 12 Chinese white dolphins virtually disappeared off the coast of the Brothers Islands.
The Chek Lap Kok airport project involved destroying the natural habitat of the Chinese white dolphin as "reclamation" of the waters took away the shallow coastal areas where these creatures were known to hunt and feed. As such, these dolphins have been forced to search for food away from their long-time hunting grounds which could be devastating to the population.
The new airport and associated projects also introduce the problem of more pollution in the habitat of the Chinese white dolphin. Toxic mud has been dumped in known feeding areas that will almost surely wind up harming this dolphin population. Since dolphins are at the top of the food chain, they will almost certainly be affected by toxins in the seabed and water that have been absorbed by the fish that make up a part of their regular diet.
The United States already has laws in place that protect dolphins in the wild, but this is not the case in China and some other countries. While conservation efforts are being introduced in this area that will attempt to protect the rare pink dolphin, we can only hope the efforts are not too little, too late.