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. The 30 days of construction-phase
underwater noise monitoring, dolphin behavior monitoring and land-based dolphin
behavior and movement monitoring were
completed in July 2013.
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
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.
6.4
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.
6.5
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 |
6.6
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.
6.7
Dolphin monitoring was carried out on 6th and 9th June 2014. The dolphin
monitoring schedule for the reporting period is shown in Appendix D.
6.8
From
these surveys, a total of 65.33 km of survey effort was collected,
with 83.3% of the total survey effort being
conducted under favorable weather conditions (i.e. Beaufort Sea State 3 or
below with good visibility) Out of the 65.33 km of survey
effort, the total survey effort conducted on primary lines (the vertical lines
perpendicular to the coastlines) was 43.28 km.
6.9
5
groups of 19 Chinese White
Dolphins were sighted from primary lines. Dolphins groups were mainly concentrated between the offshore
waters between Tai O Peninsula and Kai Kung Shan. None of the dolphin sightings was made
in the vicinity of the HKLR09 alignment.
6.10 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 June’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: June 6th |
28.9 |
115.7 |
|
Set
2: June 9th |
4.7 |
9.5 |
|
6.11 The
average group size of Chinese White Dolphins was 3.55 individuals per group
during June’s surveys, which was similar to the ones in previous months of
monitoring surveys. Out of the 11
dolphin groups, only three of them were composed of 5 or more animals, while
most groups were composed of only 1-3 animals.
6.12 During
this month of dolphin monitoring, marine construction activities have continued
under this contract. However, no
adverse impact on Chinese white dolphins was noticeable from general
observations.
6.13 Evaluation
of impacts on dolphins due to construction work will be conducted in the
quarterly EM&A report.
6.14 Detailed
monitoring methodology and results can be found in Appendix I.
6.15 Additional land-based dolphin behavior and
movement monitoring was conducted on 3rd and 6th June
2014 in the reporting month. The progress of the monitoring is summarized in
the Table 6.3.
Table 6.3 Progress
Record of Additional Land-based Dolphin Behaviour and
Movement Monitoring in June
2014
|
Date |
Time |
Weather |
Number
of Staff |
Number
of Dolphin Sighting |
|
|
Beaufort |
Visibility |
||||
|
2014/6/3 |
09:27 - 14:38 |
2-3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
2014/6/6 |
09:18 - 14:59 |
2-3 |
1.5 |
3 |
1 |
6.16
Detailed
monitoring methodology and results will be provided in a separate report after
the completion of full set of additional land-based dolphin behavior and
movement monitoring.