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Dolphin in Hong Kong
Photo: Bobby Yip / REUTERS
The noise has decreased and the conditions for the animals have improved: the Chinese white dolphins are apparently returning to the waters around Hong Kong.
Marine researchers from St. Andrews University in Great Britain told the Hong Kong newspaper "South China Morning Post" that the rare animals had been sighted significantly more often.
Because of the corona pandemic, shipping traffic in the Chinese special administrative region has decreased significantly.
There are fewer container ships and ferries on the move.
According to the researchers, the calmer waters allowed the dolphins to gather in larger groups and socialize more.
The dolphins, which get their pink hue from visible blood vessels, are native to the Pearl River estuary west of Hong Kong and are also found in the waters around Macau, Taiwan, and Singapore.
Because of the increasing volume of shipping traffic, they have been spotted less and less in the waters of Hong Kong in recent years.
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kha / dpa