A quick visit to Hong Kong after being in China for a week, I headed out on a boat to look for Dolphins in the sea around Hong Kong Airport. These Chinese white dolphins are a variety of Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa chinensis) the pink colour originates not from a pigment, but from blood vessels which were overdeveloped for thermoregulation.

 

We managed to saw 5 dolphins and got good views of one as we spent a few hours out on the water. There aren’t many of these dolphins left around Hong Kong, from an estimated 188 in 2003 there are now around 50, all of which are threatened by the busy sea traffic and a new sea bridge to Macau.  

 

The best way to look for Hong Kong Pink Dolphins is with – http://www.hkdolphinwatch.com/ they will meet you in town at one on of the hotels and take you over the bridges towards the airport where their boat is.

 

 

 

 

The UK press published these interesting Dolphin when I got home.

 

Getting the shots:

Working on a boat is always hard, managing the swell, slippy deck and other people makes getting a sharp shots really tough. I used a canon 1Dx with a canon 70mm-200mm F2.8 with a tele converter x1.4, this allowed me to easily move about the boat, squeeze between other people on the boat and long enough focal length to grab the shots when the dolphins appear. Try to get to the front of the boat so you can see both sides of the boat, don’t chase the photographs around the boat, just stay in one place. Ideally do a more than one trip, the first trip will give you a good idea of to expect on your next trip. Watch the dolphins and you will learn to predict when they come to the surface and which direction they are travelling in (expect to miss lots of shots but don’t worry about it!!).