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).
Dolphin Monitoring
(Line-transect Vessel Survey)
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. 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
As the Construction
Phase EM&A Programme under HY/2011/09 have been
terminated since 24th October 2018, no impact monitoring for dolphin was carried
out in the reporting month.
6.8
Post-construction
monitoring for dolphin was carried out after the termination of Construction
Phase EM&A Programme. Detailed monitoring
methodology and results can be found in Appendix
J.
Land-based Dolphin Behaviour and
Movement Monitoring after bridge construction
6.9
According
to Section 10 of approved EIA Report, EM&A Manual and Section 2 of approved
Proposal for Land-based Dolphin Behavior and Movement Monitoring submitted on 24
January 2013 and approved by the authority on 5 February 2013, land-based
theodolite tracking to study dolphin behaviour near
bored piling work site, and examine their north-south movement across the
bridge alignment shall be conducted before, during and after bridge
construction. Summary of the requirements of land-based dolphin monitoring is
shown in Table 6.2:
Table
6.2 Summary of Land-based of Dolphin Behaviour and
Movement Monitoring Requirements
EIA |
EM&A Manual |
Approved Monitoring Proposal |
Requirement for Land-based of dolphin behaviour and movement monitoring |
||
Land-based
theodolite tracking to study dolphin behaviour near bored piling work site,
and examine their north-south movement across the bridge alignment before,
during and after bridge construction. |
Land-based
theodolite tracking to study dolphin behaviour near bored piling work site,
and examine their north-south movement across the bridge alignment before, during and after bridge
construction. The behaviour near
the bored piling sites and north-south movement across the bridge alignment
of CWD should be monitored in the waters to the west of Airport. |
Dolphin behaviour in response to bored piling works and movement
near the bored piling sites should be monitored at the first three pier
sites for 30 days from the start of bored piling activities in the waters
to the west of Airport. However, the number of monitoring days is not well
specified for the baseline period. Therefore,
reference to the requirements in the Tuen Mun ¡V Chek Lap Kok Link (TMCLKL) EM&A Manual was made, in which 30
days of theodolite tracking before(i) and 30 days of theodolite
tracking from the start of bored piling activities(ii) will be conducted
under the present study in order to maintain overall consistency of EM&A
Programs for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) development. |
Frequency |
||
Baseline |
||
Not specified |
Baseline
for dolphin north-south movement across the bridge alignment shall be
established prior to the commencement of works and agreed with AFCD. |
30 consecutive days (with 5-6 hours on each survey day). It should be noted
that every attempt will be made to conduct the monitoring in favorable weather conditions (Beaufort Sea State 3 or
below; good visibility of 2km or above). |
Impact |
||
Not specified |
Dolphin behavior in response to bored piling and movement near
the bored piling sites will be monitored at the three pier sites for 30 days
from the start of bored piling activities in the waters to the west of
Airport. |
30 consecutive
days (with 5-6 hours on each survey day).
It should be noted
that every attempt will be made to conduct the monitoring in favorable weather conditions (Beaufort Sea State 3 or
below; good visibility of 2km or above). In the proposal,
the dolphin specialist has also proposed an additional 64 days of monitoring
(twice per month, with 5-6 hours on each survey day) throughout the
construction period to examine the impact of bridge construction on
north-south movement of CWD across the bridge alignment. |
Post-construction |
||
Not specified |
Not specified |
Not
specified |
6.10 The major construction programme
of the Contract is provided in Table 6.3.
Table
6.3 Major Construction Program for Contract No. HY/ 2011/09
Description |
Period |
Commencement of the Contract |
May 2012 |
Construction Commencement |
February 2013 |
Piling |
April 2013 ¡V September 2015 |
Pile Cap and Piers |
December 2013 ¡V May 2016 |
March 2015 ¡V June 2017 |
6.11 Based on the construction programme
in Section 6.10, Land-based theodolite monitoring after bridge construction has
been conducted twice per month from September 2016 to August 2018. A total of
48 days of monitoring was carried out after the impact monitoring completion.
Summary of Land-based dolphin behavior and movement monitoring across the
bridge alignment before, during and after bridge construction are presented in Table 6.4.
Table
6.4 Summary of Land-based dolphin behavior and movement monitoring across the
bridge alignment before, during and after bridge construction
Land-based dolphin behavior and movement
monitoring |
Monitoring Period |
Monitoring Details |
Baseline (before bridge construction) |
Dec 2012 ¡V Jan 2013 |
i)
30 consecutive days before bridge construction
(i.e. before start of bored piling activities) |
Impact (during bridge construction) |
Mar 2013 ¡V Aug 2016 |
i)
30 days from the start of bored piling activities
in the waters to the west of Airport; and ii)
64 days (twice per month) throughout the bridge
construction period (Remark: the pile cap and pier construction under
Contract HY/2011/09 were completed in May 2016) |
Post-construction (after bridge
construction) |
Sept 2016 ¡V August 2018 |
i)
48 days (twice per month) after completion of
bored piling activities |
6.12 The Land-based Dolphin Behavior and Movement
Monitoring for ¡§baseline¡¨, ¡§impact¡¨ and ¡§after bridge construction¡¨ have been
conducted by the same dolphin specialist using consistent monitoring
methodology and result analysis.
6.13 Details of Land-based dolphin behavior and
movement monitoring after bridge construction are presented in the separate
Final Report of Land-based Monitoring on North-South Movement of Chinese White Dolphins
in West Lantau Waters (After Bridge Construction).
6.14 All Land-based Dolphin Behaviour
and Movement Monitoring have been completed under Contract No. HY/2011/09 and
had fulfilled the requirements stated in the EM&A Manual.
Additional Land-based Dolphin Behaviour and Movement Monitoring
6.15
A total
of 64 days of additional monitoring according to the Proposal for Land-based
Dolphin Behaviour and Movement Monitoring had been
completed in August 2016.
6.16
The Final Report of
Land-based Monitoring on North-South Movement of Chinese White Dolphins in West
Lantau Waters had been submitted to EPD on 28 July 2017.