Whale Shark in Hong Kong

Now here’s a surprise. On Friday 6 June a trawler caught a 5 metre whale shark in the waters off Ocean Park in Hong Kong. He took it to Aberdeen fish market and called the Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department and Ocean Park. Their officials tried to persuade him to release it, which he refused to do until a Mark Gon, seafood hawker, apparently paid him HKD 20,000. Let’s hope that doesn’t encourage other Hong Kong fishermen to go out en masse to try and find it in the hope of a similar pay-day.

In what seems a ridiculous over-reaction, SCMP reported that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department would cancel all activities at the 2 water sports centres in Stanley on Saturday. And shark warning flags were raised at 10 beaches in the south of Hong Kong.

Anyway it goes to show that there is more to Hong Kong waters than you might expect.

About Neil Hambleton

I am a British Sub-Aqua Club (BSAC) Advanced Diver and an Open Water Instructor. I have been diving since 1992, after joining South China Diving Club (SCDC), which is a Hong Kong-based branch of the BSAC. Having moved to New Zealand, I am now a member of BSAC New Zealand.
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2 Responses to Whale Shark in Hong Kong

  1. Pingback: Diving Thoughts » Blog Archive » Hong Kong Whale Shark Dies

  2. That’s a horrible thing. How could they do that to animals. Hope nobody would do the same way. Let’s protect our animals rather than killing them.

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