The dead porpoise found on Sunday.
© OPCFHK.The dead porpoise found on Sunday.
A dead porpoise was found in Discovery Bay on Sunday afternoon, the fourth dead marine mammal discovered in four days after the bodies of three dolphins were discovered on Thursday.

It was found in the water and handed over to the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation for an autopsy. The OPCFHK said that the porpoise was a 1.55 metre long female and the body had reached the fourth stage of decomposition. Its cause of death has yet to be determined.

On Thursday, the bodies of three Chinese white dolphins were found - one entangled in fishing wire near Lido Beach in Sham Tseng, one in waters near Lamma Island and another in Fan Kwai Tong off Lantau Island.

That makes 16 beached animals this year, according to HK01. The Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society (HKDCS), a charitable organisation, told HK01 that dolphin numbers in Hong Kong are decreasing. They estimate that there has been a decline since 2014, when 61 dolphins were estimated to be in Hong Kong waters.

According to the HKDCS, finless porpoises in Hong Kong face threats of habitat degradation from coastal development, net entanglement, vessel strikes, and water pollution.