6.1
According to Section 10 of the EM&A Manual,
four kinds of ecological monitoring works are required during the construction
phase, namely dolphin monitoring, construction-phase underwater noise
monitoring, dolphin behavior monitoring and land-based dolphin behavior and
movement monitoring.
6.2
The monitoring work shall be undertaken by
suitably qualified specialist(s), (i.e. dolphin specialist and
bio-acoustician), who shall have sufficient (at least 5-10 years) relevant
post-graduate experience and publication in the respective aspects. They should
be approved by Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and
Environmental Protection Department (EPD).
6.3
Construction-phase
underwater noise monitoring, dolphin behavior monitoring and land-based dolphin
behavior and movement monitoring have been completed in July 2013 according to
EM&A Manual for HKLR. Results analysis is being undertaken and the final
results will be provided in a separate report in September 2013 tentatively.
6.4
According to EM&A Manual Section 10.3.2, a
dolphin monitoring programme should be set up to
verify the predictions of impacts and to ensure that there are no unforeseen
impacts on the dolphin population during construction phase.
6.5
Following the requirement in the EM&A Manual Section 10.4.1, the dolphin monitoring
should adopt line-transect vessel survey method, and cover the following
line-transect survey areas as in AFCD annual marine mammal monitoring programme.
6.6
For this contract, dolphin monitoring will be
carried out in the West Lantau (WL) along the line
transect as depicted in Figure 1 of Appendix I. The co-ordinates
of all transect lines are shown in Table
6.1.
Table
6.1 Co-ordinates
of transect lines in WL survey area
Line No. |
Easting |
Northing |
Line No. |
Easting |
Northing |
||
1 |
Start Point |
803750 |
818500 |
7 |
Start Point |
800200 |
810450 |
1 |
End Point |
803750 |
815500 |
7 |
End Point |
801400 |
810450 |
2 |
Start Point |
803750 |
815500 |
8 |
Start Point |
801300 |
809450 |
2 |
End Point |
802940 |
815500 |
8 |
End Point |
799750 |
809450 |
3 |
Start Point |
802550 |
814500 |
9 |
Start Point |
799400 |
808450 |
3 |
End Point |
803700 |
814500 |
9 |
End Point |
801430 |
808450 |
4 |
Start Point |
803120 |
813600 |
10 |
Start Point |
801500 |
807450 |
4 |
End Point |
801640 |
813600 |
10 |
End Point |
799600 |
807450 |
5 |
Start Point |
801100 |
812450 |
11 |
Start Point |
800300 |
806500 |
5 |
End Point |
802900 |
812450 |
11 |
End Point |
801750 |
806500 |
6 |
Start Point |
802400 |
811500 |
12 |
Start Point |
801760 |
805450 |
6 |
End Point |
800660 |
811500 |
12 |
End Point |
800700 |
805450 |
6.7
Dolphin transect survey was carried out at least
twice a month (i.e. complete all the transect lines of West Lantau
survey area twice per month) throughout the construction period.
6.8
Dolphin monitoring was carried out on 21st and 26th August 2013. The dolphin monitoring schedule for the reporting period is shown in Appendix D.
6.9
From
these surveys, a total of 64.3
km of survey effort was collected, with 100.0% of the total survey effort being conducted under favourable weather conditions (i.e. Beaufort Sea State 3 or
below with good visibility) Out of the 64.3 km of survey
effort, the total survey effort conducted on primary lines (the vertical lines
perpendicular to the coastlines) was 42.39 km.
6.10 10 groups of 35 Chinese White Dolphins were sighted from primary lines. These sightings were evenly
distributed throughout the WL survey area, which was very different from
previous months of monitoring when most sightings were made at the middle and
southern portions of the survey area. Notably, two dolphin sightings were made
near the HKLR09 alignment.
6.11 Dolphin
encounter rates deduced from the survey effort and on-effort sighting data made
under favourable conditions (Beaufort 3 or below) are
shown in Table 6.2.
Table 6.2 Dolphin
encounter rates (sightings per 100 km of survey effort) in August’s
surveys
|
Encounter rate
(STG) (no. of on-effort dolphin sightings per 100 km of
survey effort) |
Encounter rate
(ANI)
(no. of dolphins from all
on-effort sightings per 100 km of survey effort) |
|
Primary Lines Only |
Primary Lines Only |
||
WL |
Set 1: August 21st |
9.3 |
41.7 |
Set 2: August 26th |
38.5 |
125.0 |
6.12 A
total of 19 re-sightings of
known individual Chinese White Dolphins were made during the August’s
surveys.
6.13 No
adverse impact on Chinese white dolphins was noticeable from general
observations.
6.14 Evaluation
of impacts on dolphins due to construction work will be conducted in the
quarterly EM&A report.
6.15 Detailed
monitoring methodology and results can be found in Appendix I.