Finless porpoises are washing up dead or becoming stranded on Hong Kong\u2019s shorelines in increasing numbers. The reasons behind the rise in mortalities are puzzling conservation groups.<\/p>\n
According to a new report<\/a>, more than 40 of the small cetaceans were reported dead in 2019, making it the worst year for porpoise strandings on record. The annual average of stranded porpoises has increased over time, from 11 animals per year in the late 1990s to 24 per year in the past decade. Since 2006, a total of 318 stranded porpoises have been reported on the Hong Kong coast.<\/p>\n It is unlikely that the population can sustain such high levels of mortality, says Teale Phelps Bondaroff, director of research for Oceans Asia, a non-profit based in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last population survey in 2002 identified 220 porpoises. We\u2019ve had more than that many die since then,\u201d says Phelps Bondaroff, author of the new report<\/a>. \u201cThe fact that we have a high percentage of the population potentially being killed each year is alarming.\u201d<\/p>\n