Story about how we, collectively, killed a once thriving Bryde’s whale that lost its way, mistaking Hong Kong as a safe haven.

It’s our selfishness and ignorance as individuals chasing for a rare whale sighting, it’s also systemic fallacies with the lack of regulatory frameworks to safeguard our marine life. See propeller wounds on the whale.

Oceans in Hong Kong have an image problem. Since childhood, we have been educated to associate “ocean” with the Victoria Harbour, with our glamorous skyline and cityscape.

We merely see oceans with resources to extract, we fail to see what’s beneath and within. We fail to see oceans as living marine organisms.

We need to turn the tide with transformative education, continuous policy advocacy to establish more Marine Protect Areas (MPA) with stringent guidelines for them. Hong Kong is far off the target of protecting 30% of oceans by 2030 under the UN Ocean Treaty agreed by states earlier in 2023.

We are oceans, oceans are us.

Photo credits: May Tse/ South China Morning Post SCMP