Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis)
The Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and Hong Kong (HK) Waters are identified as two of the most important habitats worldwide for Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis). However, the extremely rapid growth of coastal cities and near-shore reclamation lands posed great threats to delicate marine ec...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1617954/full |
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| author | Chang He Alessandro Stocchino Alessandro Stocchino Zhen-Yu Yin Francesco De Leo Yin-Fu Jin Xiang-Sheng Chen |
| author_facet | Chang He Alessandro Stocchino Alessandro Stocchino Zhen-Yu Yin Francesco De Leo Yin-Fu Jin Xiang-Sheng Chen |
| author_sort | Chang He |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and Hong Kong (HK) Waters are identified as two of the most important habitats worldwide for Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis). However, the extremely rapid growth of coastal cities and near-shore reclamation lands posed great threats to delicate marine ecosystems and protected species. Dredging operations can exert non-negligible negative impacts on humpback dolphins, with high sediment concentrations standing out as a particularly significant threat. This study aims to apply a new risk assessment approach based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and unsupervised machine learning technique for quantitatively estimating the risk of high turbidity to marine mammals. As an extension, the risk to the natural habitat in PRE was statistically compared among five possible dredging locations according to HK reclamation projects. The results showed that sediment plumes could be enlarged quickly if dredging sites are close to places with high density of macro-vortices, such as the north corner of Lantau Island. In terms of temporal effects, dredging under scenarios with northeast wind has a higher probability of posing significant risks to dolphin habitats. In accordance with this strategy, reliable suggestions on the choice of construction location or period could be provided to the decision-makers before or during the coastal projects. The proposed strategy can also be flexibly extended to any coastal environment, serving as a valuable example for coastal and environmental management. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-49800b7e60e8448193d73b9ac9abbfbb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-49800b7e60e8448193d73b9ac9abbfbb2025-08-20T03:32:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452025-08-011210.3389/fmars.2025.16179541617954Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis)Chang He0Alessandro Stocchino1Alessandro Stocchino2Zhen-Yu Yin3Francesco De Leo4Yin-Fu Jin5Xiang-Sheng Chen6College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaResearch Institute for Land and Space (RILS), The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaDepartment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, ChinaDepartment of Civil, Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of Genoa, Genoa, ItalyCollege of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaCollege of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaThe Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and Hong Kong (HK) Waters are identified as two of the most important habitats worldwide for Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis). However, the extremely rapid growth of coastal cities and near-shore reclamation lands posed great threats to delicate marine ecosystems and protected species. Dredging operations can exert non-negligible negative impacts on humpback dolphins, with high sediment concentrations standing out as a particularly significant threat. This study aims to apply a new risk assessment approach based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and unsupervised machine learning technique for quantitatively estimating the risk of high turbidity to marine mammals. As an extension, the risk to the natural habitat in PRE was statistically compared among five possible dredging locations according to HK reclamation projects. The results showed that sediment plumes could be enlarged quickly if dredging sites are close to places with high density of macro-vortices, such as the north corner of Lantau Island. In terms of temporal effects, dredging under scenarios with northeast wind has a higher probability of posing significant risks to dolphin habitats. In accordance with this strategy, reliable suggestions on the choice of construction location or period could be provided to the decision-makers before or during the coastal projects. The proposed strategy can also be flexibly extended to any coastal environment, serving as a valuable example for coastal and environmental management.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1617954/fullrisk assessmenthumpback dolphincoastal dredgingpearl river estuarysediment transport |
| spellingShingle | Chang He Alessandro Stocchino Alessandro Stocchino Zhen-Yu Yin Francesco De Leo Yin-Fu Jin Xiang-Sheng Chen Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) Frontiers in Marine Science risk assessment humpback dolphin coastal dredging pearl river estuary sediment transport |
| title | Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) |
| title_full | Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) |
| title_fullStr | Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) |
| title_short | Risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis) |
| title_sort | risk assessment of coastal dredging sediment plumes on the habitat of indo pacific humpback dolphin sousa chinensis |
| topic | risk assessment humpback dolphin coastal dredging pearl river estuary sediment transport |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1617954/full |
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