Rare Pink And White Dolphins Are Making A Comeback In Hong Kong Now The Boats Are Gone

Kassia is the Editor of AWOL, and a straight-up travel…

A lot of animals have been re-claiming their natural habitats since humans have gone into lockdown and stopped taking up all the space, like the dolphins and swans in Venice. Heck, even most of the zoos let their animals out to play. Now, rare pink and white dolphins are returning to Hong Kong.

The pandemic has put a pause on high speed water transport around the Pearl River Delta in Hong Kong since February, which seems to have cleared the way for rare Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins (also known as Chinese white dolphins, or pink dolphins) to venture back out.

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Indo-Pacific Humpbacked dolphin, or the Chinese White dolphin… also called the Hong Kong Pink dolphin as like humans they ‘blush’ and turn a pink colour. They were amazing to watch and one jumped out easily over 8 feet in the air, I missed the chance to photograph it though 👎🏼. These guys are in a bad way and are near extinction mostly due to polluted waters, only 32 remain in the area around Hong Kong.

A post shared by Ben (@benreed1986) on May 3, 2020 at 1:08am PDT

Scientists say the dolphins have avoided the area for years, but their local numbers have jumped by 30 percent in recent months

But now researchers say the number of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the area has jumped by 30% in recent months, ever since boat traffic was suspended in February due to the pandemic.

In fun facts, although their skin appears pink and/ or white, it’s actually just a lack of pigmentation. Apparently they spend their time in murky waters with very little amounts of sun penetration. That, combined with warm blood pumping through vessels that are close to the surface of the skin, makes the dolphins look a bright pink. Cute.