. La zY: My Chinese white dolphin encounter

from wiki:

the chinese white dolphin (traditional Chinese: 中華白海豚), also called indo-pacific humpback dolphin, is a species of the humpback dolphin and is one of eighty cetacean species. the adult dolphin is usually white or grey in colour. the population along the chinese coast is unique in that they exhibit a pink-coloured skin. this colour of the skin is not a result of colour pigmentation, but is actually from blood vessels used for thermoregulation to prevent overheating during exertion. the adult's body length is about 200 - 350 centimetres and the infant's body length is about 1 metre. the average weight of an adult is around 150 to 230 kilograms.

now that you have a bit of background on the chinese white dolphins. let me share with you my white dolphin encounter.

i was lucky enough to be invited on a "chinese white dolphin spotting" junk with the ocean park folks a few weeks back. i was not particularily excited about this trip because i had no idea what i was expected to see. we took off from a pier in tuen mun and headed towards the waters between new territories and zhuhai (red box indicated in the map below). after a 50-min ride, we came across our first sighting...

it was near impossible to capture photos of these animals surfacing the water with a regular digital camera. during each sighting, we had to keep quiet and maintain a distance of at least 50 meters. luckily, the wife brought her canon eos 350d camera and her 24-105 lense. according to the guide, these chinese white dolphins often followed fishing boats, hoping to catch a quick meal.