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 8th and 22nd October 2014. The dolphin
monitoring schedule for the reporting period is shown in Appendix D.
6.8
From these surveys, a total of 65.42 km of survey effort was collected,
with 86% 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 65.42 km of survey effort, the total survey
effort conducted on primary lines (the vertical lines perpendicular to the
coastlines) was 42.81 km.
6.9
3 groups of 16 Chinese White
Dolphins were sighted from primary lines. Distribution of the 3 dolphin sightings made during October’s
surveys is
shown in Figure 4 of Appendix I. Two sightings
were made between Peaked Hill and Fan Lau, while another sighting was made near
the border between Tai O and Peaked Hill (Figure 4 of Appendix I).
All three dolphin groups were located far away from the HKLR09 alignment
(Figure 4 of Appendix I).
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 October’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: October
8th |
9.2 |
64.7 |
Set
2: October 22nd |
0.0 |
0.0 |
6.11
The average group size of
Chinese White Dolphins was 5.33 individuals per group during October’s surveys,
which was higher than the ones in previous months of monitoring surveys. Among the three dolphin groups, one was
particularly large with 12 animals, while the other two groups was fairly small
with only two animals each.
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 20th and 27th October 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 October 2014
Date |
Time |
Weather |
Number of Staff |
Number of Dolphin Sighting |
|
Beaufort |
Visibility |
||||
2014/10/20 |
09:16
- 14:39 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2014/10/27 |
09:09
- 14:37 |
1-2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
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.