Ocean conservation organization Mission Blue announced this week that it has recognized the waters off the southern coast of Hong Kong as the newest “Hope Spot.”
The announcement is in recognition of local activists advocating for a formal marine protected area in Hong Kong waters.
Hong Kong’s coastline used to have over 6,000 species of fish, more than 100 species of coral as well as the finless porpoise and the iconic white dolphin, according to Mission Blue.
Dr. Robert Lockyer, an environmentalist and educator with local environmental advocacy group AquaMeridian:
“Sadly, as water sports have become more common and the number of marine pleasure craft increase each year, we see more and more injuries to marine life, almost to the point of totally wiping out some local populations. Take our local sea turtles for example; it’s really disheartening when we see the numbers of ‘boat strikes’ increase, and yet we see no new nestings. However, we witness that every year more and more sea turtles are being reported in Hong Kong’s waters.”
The new Hope Spot takes up more than 41,700 hectares/103,043 acres and includes areas of South Lantau, Soko Islands, South Lamma, Aberdeen, Po Toi and Cape D’Aguilar, according to Mission Blue.
For more info about this newest Hope Spot, go to mission-blue.org.
We are happy to recognize Hong Kong South as our newest Hope Spot! The southern waters of Hong Kong are a unique, highly connected region in the South China Sea. #HopeSpots
Photo by Raymond Man pic.twitter.com/SdKJpqX2XP
— Mission Blue (@MissionBlue) July 26, 2022
