GETTY Hong Kong’s pink dolphin is vanishing fast as the number of sightings decrease

Worried conservationists say the number of sightings of the dazzling marine mammal around the autonomous territory’s bustling waters have reached a worrying low. A new report from Hong Kong’s fisheries and conservation department shows how numbers have crashed from 87 in 2011 to only 47 last year.

Experts fear the iconic creature has now reached a “critical juncture” under threats from major development in its coastal feeding grounds. With reports that dolphin calf numbers have also dived to their lowest levels ever, only 17 have been sighted over the past year, conservationists say the outlook for the dolphins is beyond dismal. Dr Samuel Hung Ka-yiu of the Cetacean Research Project, which conducted the study, told the South China Morning Post: “Numbers drop every year but usually there are at least some bright spots.

"In recent years for example, we saw dolphins taking refuge further south ... and they were still reproducing. "There are absolutely no barometers of optimism this year. “We’ve reached a critical juncture. It’s now life or death for the dolphins.”

GETTY Experts fear the iconic creature has now reached a “critical juncture"

We’ve reached a critical juncture. It’s now life or death for the dolphins. Dr Samuel Hung Ka-yiu, Cetacean Research Project

WWF-Hong Kong published its Marine Health Check Report earlier this year, warning that the seas so closely tied to the territory's history and development are witnessing a rapid environmental decline, with the pink dolphin, in particular, facing a wide range of threats. Back in 1997, the cetacean, officially known as the Chinese white dolphin, became the official mascot at the flamboyant ceremony where the UK handed back the territory to China.

GETTY Threats from major development in its coastal feeding grounds could be the cause for its fearful low

The dolphin had been chosen as a symbol largely because it is held with deep public affection. Such feelings have done little to offer it a future. In the WWF-Hong Kong report, the apex predator dolphin is said to be sensitive to multiple environmental impacts, with the threats it faces outlined in the report as: permanent and temporary habitat loss from construction and reclamation; disturbance from heavy marine traffic; underwater noise; water pollution; disturbance from dolphin watching activities.

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