Second Whale Sighting in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s second whale sighting occurred last Saturday 19 February 2011, two years following the first sighting. Unfortuately, this time there are no photos … only eyewitness accounts. This is how the SCMP reported it (Whale sighted at weekend thought to be calf, Feb 23, 2011):

A whale sighted off Pok Fu Lam on Saturday may already have left Hong Kong, with conservation officials yesterday confirming there were at least two sightings over the weekend.

A Pok Fu Lam resident who saw the whale from a distance suspected it was a baby humpback. Officers who conducted a search said it was probably a whale but they could not determine the species.

The Pok Fu Lam resident who reported the sighting on Saturday said yesterday: "It was a small one, perhaps three metres long. It was swimming between Lamma and Cyberport and heading south. It left the water sometimes and we could see its tail." She said the whale was spotted in the evening and it spent two hours swimming in the area. But poor visibility made it difficult to take pictures.

For some wonderful whale photos from the 2009 sighting, see here.