Rare Pink Dolphin
February 6, 2013 by staff
Rare Pink Dolphin, “Pink dolphin, two o’clock!” It takes a moment to orient myself to the analog directive, but I manage to turn and spot it in time. A few yards ahead of me in the South China Sea is a flash of pink dorsal fin. I have seen my first pink dolphin.
And they’re not just pink, they’re bubble-gum pink. So pink you would think it’s a Sanrio marketing ploy, but it’s the real deal. This is the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin which can be found in Southern China, the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific.
But only the ones here, in China’s Pearl River Delta, are pink.
Samuel Hung, scientist and activist with the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, tells me: “We are not sure why they’re pink in color. When they’re dead, they’re white. We think it’s a blushing effect, and that’s how they regulate their internal heat.”
The dolphins are grey when they’re born and gradually become pink as they mature. But these extraordinary creatures are dwindling in number. In the entire Pearl River Delta, their population stands at around 2,500. Off the coast of Hong Kong, they are only 100 pink dolphins left.
It’s not hard to understand why. My journey to see them begins off a small port near Hong Kong’s busy international airport. It’s a highly congested area where runways, highways and railways collide – much of it built in dolphin habitat.
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