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Contents
1.3 Environmental Status and Programme
2 Chinese White Dolphin Monitoring
Table 1.1: Contact
Information of Key Personnel
Table 2.1: Co-ordinates of
Transect Lines in WL Survey Area
Table 2.2: Dolphin encounter
rates per set in WL survey area during the reporting period
Figures
Figure 1 Transect
Line Layout in West Lantau Survey Area
Appendices
Appendix A Project
Organisation for Environmental Works
Appendix B Chinese
White Dolphin Monitoring Results
Appendix C Monitoring
Schedule
This Monthly Environmental Monitoring and Audit
(EM&A) Report is prepared for “Agreement No. HMWSD 1/2019 (EP)
Post-Construction Monitoring of Chinese White Dolphin (Line-transect Vessel
Surveys) for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Link Road at West
Lantau Waters – Investigation” (hereafter referred to as “the Assignment”) for
the Highways Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Mott MacDonald Hong Kong Limited was appointed
by the Highways Department of HKSAR to undertake the Environmental Team
services for this Assignment for the post-construction monitoring of Chinese
White Dolphin in West Lantau waters for the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong
Kong Link Road Project.
This is the Monthly EM&A Report for the 12th
month of the post-construction phase of the Project which summarises findings
of the post-construction EM&A activities during the reporting period from 1
to 31 October 2019.
Environmental Monitoring and
Audit Progress
A summary of the post-construction monitoring
activities during the reporting period is listed as below:
Chinese White Dolphin Monitoring (Line-transect
Vessel Surveys): 2 and 16 October 2019
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong
Kong Link Road (HKLR) is a designated project under the Environmental Impact
Assessment Ordinance (EIAO). The
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Report and Environmental Monitoring and
Audit (EM&A) Manual (EIA Register No.: AEIAR-144/2009) for the project were
approved by the Director of Environmental Protection in October 2009 and the
Environmental Permit No. EP-352/2009 (EP) was issued in November 2009. The EP has been subject to several variations
and the current one is EP No. EP-352/2009/D.
The HZMB HKLR was constructed under two works
contracts namely Contract No. HY/2011/03 (HZMB HKLR – Section between Scenic
Hill and Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF)) and Contract No.
HY/2011/09 (HZMB HKLR – Section between HKSAR Boundary and Scenic Hill). In accordance with the EP, the Contractors of
Contract No. HY/2011/03 and Contract No. HY/2011/09 have separately employed
their own Environmental Team (ET) and ET Leader to conduct construction phase
monitoring of Chinese White Dolphin (CWD) in the North Lantau (NL) and West
Lantau (WL) waters following the requirements specified in the EM&A Manual
and the relevant contract specifications of the two contracts.
In accordance with Section 10.3 of the EM&A
Manual, an ecological monitoring and audit programme is needed which will
monitor potential impacts through construction and operation activities,
and will verify the assessments which were made in the EIA report. In particular, the programme should include
dolphin monitoring at NL and WL waters to be set up in order to verify the
predictions of impacts and to ensure that there are no unforeseen impacts on
the dolphin population during construction phase. Such dolphin monitoring should cover the
pre-construction phase, the entire period of construction phase and after the
completion of construction works (i.e. post-construction phase).
The main objective of the current Assignment
commissioned by the Highways Department (HyD) is to
conduct Post-Construction Monitoring of CWD in WL waters in compliance with the
requirements stipulated in the EM&A Manual and the EP for the HZMB HKLR
Project. The post-construction
monitoring of CWD should be conducted for two years upon the completion of all
marine-based construction activities.
The marine-based construction activities for
the Contract No. HY/2011/09 was completed in October 2018. Subsequently, 10 months of post-construction
dolphin monitoring had been carried out by the Contract, while the remaining 14
months of post-construction dolphin monitoring will be completed under this
Assignment, from
In August 2019, Mott MacDonald Hong Kong
Limited was appointed by the HyD to undertake the
Environmental Team (ET) services for this Assignment for the post-construction
monitoring of CWD in WL waters for the HZMB HKLR Project. This is the Monthly
EM&A Report for the 12th month of the post-construction phase of
the Project summarising the findings of the post-construction EM&A
activities during the reporting period from 1 to 31 October 2019 and is
submitted to fulfil Condition 4.4 of the EP.
The project organisation and lines of
communication with respect to the environmental management structure are shown
in Appendix A.
The key personnel contact names and numbers are summarised in Table 1.1.
Party |
Position |
Name |
Telephone |
Fax |
Permit Holder (HyD) |
Engineer |
Ms. Karen Ho |
2762 4979 |
3188 6614 |
Environmental Project Office / Independent Environmental Checker (Ramboll Hong Kong Limited) |
Environmental Project Office
Leader |
Mr. Y H Hui |
3465 2888 |
3465 2899 |
Independent Environmental Checker |
Mr. Ray Yan |
3465 2836 |
3465 2899 |
|
Environmental Team (Mott MacDonald Hong Kong
Limited) |
Environmental Team Leader |
Mr. Gary Chow |
2828 5874 |
2827 1823 |
1.3 Environmental
Status and Programme
As described in Section 1.1, the current Assignment
is under the post-construction phase of the HZMB HKLR Project with all
marine-based construction activities completed, thus there were no construction
works involved.
The CWD monitoring programme covers all
transect lines in WL survey area (refer to Figure 1) for twice per month throughout the entire
post-construction monitoring period for two years. The current reporting period
is the 12th month of the post-construction CWD monitoring.
Landscape monitoring has been conducted by
other parties for Contract No. HY/2011/09 since July 2019 with a monitoring
programme for once in bi-monthly intervals throughout the landscape
establishment period for one year. The 2nd bi-monthly landscape
establishment monitoring covering the reporting periods from September 2019 to
October 2019 has already been covered and conducted in September 2019.
The CWD monitoring schedule involved in this
reporting period is provided in Appendix C. Tentative schedule of the planned CWD
monitoring and bi-monthly landscape establishment monitoring works in the next
reporting period is also provided in Appendix C.
2 Chinese
White Dolphin Monitoring
According to the requirement stated in the
EM&A Manual, a CWD monitoring programme was set up to conduct surveys for
twice per month adopting the line-transect vessel survey method and covering
the following transect lines in the West Lantau (WL) survey area as in the AFCD
long-term marine mammal monitoring programme.
The CWD monitoring works were undertaken by a
dedicated survey team comprising qualified dolphin specialist and experienced
CWD surveyors. The qualified dolphin specialist was approved by the AFCD and
EPD.
The location of the WL survey area and all
transect lines are depicted in Figure 1. The co-ordinates of all transect lines
are shown in Table 2.1.
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 |
2.3.1 Line-transect Vessel Survey
The following monitoring protocol is consistent
and compatible with the baseline and construction phase dolphin monitoring
methodology, which was also designed and adopted by the Hong Kong Cetacean
Research Project (HKCRP) team for the HZMB monitoring since 2011.
The survey team used standard line-transect
methods (Buckland et al. 2001) to conduct the systematic vessel surveys, and followed the same technique of data collection
that has been adopted over the past two decades of marine mammal monitoring
surveys in Hong Kong developed by HKCRP (see Hung 2018, 2019). For each monitoring vessel survey, a 15-m
inboard vessel with an open upper deck (about 4.5 m above water surface) was
used to make observations from the flying bridge area.
Two experienced observers (a data recorder and
a primary observer) made up the on-effort survey team, and the survey vessel
transited through different transect lines at a constant speed of 13-15 km per
hour. The data recorder searched with
unaided eyes and filled out the datasheets, while the primary observer searched
for CWD continuously through 7 x 50 Fujinon marine
binoculars. Both observers searched the
sea ahead of the vessel, between 270o and 90o (in
relation to the bow, which is defined as 0o). One to two additional experienced observers
were available on the boat to work in shift (i.e. rotate every 30 minutes) in
order to minimize fatigue of the survey team members. All
observers are experienced in small cetacean survey
techniques and identifying local cetacean species.
During on-effort survey periods, the survey
team recorded effort data including time, position (latitude and longitude),
weather conditions (Beaufort sea state and
visibility), and distance travelled in each series (a continuous period of
search effort) with the assistance of a handheld GPS (Garmin eTrex). Data including time, position and vessel
speed were automatically and continuously logged by a handheld GPS throughout
the entire survey for subsequent review.
When dolphins were sighted, the survey team
would end the survey effort, and immediately record the initial sighting
distance and angle of the dolphin group from the survey vessel, as well as the
sighting time and position. Then, the
research vessel would be diverted from its course to approach the animals for
species identification, group size estimation, assessment of group composition,
and behavioural observations. The
perpendicular distance (PSD) of the dolphin group to the transect line would
later be calculated from the initial sighting distance and angle.
Survey effort being conducted along the
parallel transect lines that were perpendicular to the coastlines (as indicated
in Figure 1)
was labelled as “primary” survey effort, while the survey effort being
conducted along the connecting lines between parallel lines was labelled as
“secondary” survey effort. According to
HKCRP long-term dolphin monitoring data, encounter rates of CWD deduced from effort
and sighting data collected along primary and secondary lines have been similar
in survey areas around Lantau Island.
Therefore, both primary and secondary survey effort were presented as
on-effort survey effort.
Encounter rates of CWD (number of on-effort
sightings per 100 km of survey effort) were calculated in WL survey area in
relation to the amount of survey effort conducted during each month of
monitoring survey. Only data collected
under Beaufort 3 or below condition would be used for encounter rate
analysis. Dolphin encounter rates were
calculated using primary survey effort alone, as well as the combined survey
effort from both primary and secondary lines.
2.3.2 Photo-identification Work
When a group of CWD was sighted during the
line-transect survey, the survey team would end effort and approach the group
slowly from the side and behind to take photographs of them. Every attempt was made to photograph every
dolphin in the group, and even photograph both sides of the dolphins whenever
possible, since the colouration and markings on both sides may not be
symmetrical.
At least one professional digital camera (Canon
EOS 7D model) equipped with long telephoto lens (100-400 mm zoom) was available
on board for researchers to take sharp, close-up photographs of dolphins as
they surface. The images were shot
at the highest available resolution and stored on Compact Flash memory cards
for downloading onto a computer.
All digital images taken in the field were first
examined, and those containing potentially identifiable individuals were sorted
out. These photographs were then
examined in greater detail, and were carefully
compared to the existing CWD photo-identification catalogue maintained by HKCRP
since 1995. CWDs can be identified by
their natural markings, such as nicks, cuts, scars and deformities on their
dorsal fin and body, and their unique spotting patterns can also be used as
secondary identifying features (Jefferson 2000).
All photographs of each individual
were then compiled and arranged in chronological order, with data including the
date and location first identified (initial sighting), re-sightings, associated
dolphins, distinctive features, and age classes entered into a computer
database.
2.4.1 Line-transect Vessel Survey
Two sets of systematic line-transect vessel
surveys were conducted on 2 and 16 October 2019, to cover all transect lines in
WL survey area twice. The survey routes
of each survey day are presented in Figures 2 to 3 of Appendix B.
A total of 63.47 km of survey effort was
collected, with 96.5% of total survey effort being conducted under favourable
weather conditions (i.e. Beaufort Sea State 3 or below with good visibility),
as detailed in Appendix
B. Out of the 63.47 km of survey
effort, the total survey effort conducted on primary lines was 41.77 km, while
the effort on secondary lines was 21.70 km.
During the two sets of monitoring surveys, nine
groups of 28 CWDs were sighted. All
dolphin groups were sighted during on-effort search, while six of these
on-effort sightings were made on primary lines (refer to sighting data
presented in Appendix
B). None of these dolphin groups
was associated with operating fishing vessel.
Distribution of the dolphin sightings made in
the reporting period is shown in Figure 4 of Appendix B. These
sightings were mostly distributed in offshore waters along the western
territorial border, while they appeared to avoid the inshore waters as well as
the southern portion of the WL survey area.
Notably, no sighting was made near the HKLR section alignment, even
though a group of three dolphins was sighted to the north of the bridge
alignment.
Encounter rates of CWD deduced from the survey
effort and on-effort sighting data made under favourable conditions (Beaufort 3
or below) are shown in Table 2.2 and
Table 2.3.
Survey Area |
Survey Set |
Encounter rate (STG) |
Encounter rate (ANI) |
Primary Lines Only |
Primary Lines Only |
||
West Lantau (WL) |
Set 1: October 2nd, 2019 |
15.0 |
40.1 |
Set 2: October 16th,
2019 |
14.5 |
38.8 |
Survey Area |
Encounter rate (STG) |
Encounter rate (ANI) |
||
Primary Lines Only |
Both Primary and Secondary Lines |
Primary Lines Only |
Both Primary and Secondary Lines |
|
West Lantau (WL) |
14.8 |
14.7 |
39.4 |
45.7 |
The average group size of CWDs was 3.1 dolphins
per group. Eight of the nine dolphin
sightings were consisted of small groups of 1-4 animals per group, while there
was also a medium-sized group with six animals being sighted during the
reporting period.
2.4.2 Photo-identification Work
A total of nine different individual CWDs were
identified for 13 times during surveys in this reporting period, with details
presented in Appendix
B. Six individuals were only
re-sighted once during the monitoring month, while the other three individuals
(CH320, WL168 and WL268) were re-sighted two to three times.
Notably, one of these individuals (WL145) was
accompanied with her newborn calf during their
re-sightings in this month.
Post-construction EM&A work including the
monitoring of CWD was conducted in accordance with the EM&A Manual during
the reporting period.
In this month of post-construction monitoring
of CWD in WL waters, vessel surveys were conducted on 2 and 16 October 2019
covering all transect lines in WL survey area twice. A total of 63.47 km of
survey effort was collected, with nine groups of 28 CWDs were sighted. All
marine-based construction activities have been completed and as a result, no
adverse impact on CWD was observed from the HZMB HKLR works.