The Magical Stone of Boey the Dolphin

Rumour has it, magical stones can be found at the bottom of the sea at Fan Lau in southern Lantau. Those who find a magical stone can have a wish granted…

Boey is 4 years old.  He is a curious and positive pink dolphin (Their proper name is Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin). Having heard about the magical stone, he hangs around Fan Lau quite often with his friend, Natalia, to look for the magical stones while having fun. After catching fish at the Pearl River mouth today, they go to Fan Lau again to look for magical stones.

While Boey is trying to swim towards Natalia, a hydrofoil moves towards them at high speed.  Boey is frightened and dives down to stay away from the boat.

Getting together, the two dolphins talk about their wish. Boey says, “I always see dolphin-watching boats.  People are so excited to see us. They wave and say hello to us. If I found a magical stone, I want to become a human being and make friends with them. That would be really nice!” Natalia pouts and says, “If I became a human

being, I will tell them what dangers a dolphin has to face everyday!”

Natalia still remember what happened when she was one year old.  At that time, Natalia and her mother met a bad dolphin-watching boat which drove between her and her mother.  What’s worse, the boat chased after them.  She is still haunted by this horrible memory.  Because of this, she does not trust human beings that much.

Boey sees Mamma from afar.  She is showing Jade, his little sister, how to catch fish.  He swims towards them together with Natalia.  Knowing that the two little dolphins plan to look for the magical stones at Fan Lau, she says, “My grandma told me that there used to be a lot of magical stones at the bottom of the sea.  Yet, with large and small reclamation projects running, together with the dredging works, magical stones are either buried forever or being taken away.  Nowadays, it is quite impossible to find one.”

Aunt Sandy is feeding nearby. She comes over and says, “It is now very difficult find even a bigger fish, not to mention a magical stone.” Boey says eagerly, “I don’t think so. I can follow the trawlers and take the fish that escape the fishing net. That’s easy!” Thinking of how dangerous it was for Boey to swim among fishing nets,

Mamma says to Boey patiently, “Yes, you’re right.  But when you feed this way, you have to be extra careful.  It is easy to get caught in the fishing net.  If you cannot get back to the surface to breathe, you may die.” Jade also reminded her brother and says, “Don’t forget that we are mammals.  We need to surface to breathe!” Hearing these, Boey says, “Alright, I’ll be careful when I pick up the fish that escapes the fishing nets. Don’t worry!”

Having said goodbye to Mamma, Jade and Aunt Sandy, Boey and Natalia swim towards Fan Lau.  Fan Lau is an area when seawater mixes with fresh water from the Pearl River.  When you look at this area from high ground, you’ll see yellowish fresh water mixing with the greenish seawater, which forms interesting patterns.  Fan Lau is a place where pink dolphins like to visit.  It is because the transport is not too heavy in the area, and they do not need to worry about being disturbed.

Having reached the Peaked Hill of Lantau, Boey and Natalia have been gazing at the bottom of the sea, searching for the magical stones.  They swim pass Fan Lau East Bay and reach the Soko Islands.

Natalia then sees a dark grey animal from afar, trying to hunt squids.  He looks small and his head is round.  There is no dorsal fin on his back but his tail looks like theirs.  Natalia says to herself, what strange creature is that?  She shivers and hides behind Boey.  That animal is not a strange creature.  He is in fact a finless porpoise.  Finless porpoise is a porpoise belonging to the family of whales and dolphins, just like the pink dolphins.  They have been living in Hong Kong for a long time.   As they like seawater that is saltier, while the pink dolphins like a mixture of salty seawater and fresh water from the river, they seldom meet each other.

In fact, Aunt Sandy had told Boey long ago that she had met a finless porpoise on the other side of Lantau Island. Boey raises his voice and asks, “Are you a finless porpoise?” This unexpected shout startles the little porpoise as he is paying his full attention on the squid. Probably due to their small size, most porpoises are

very sensitive about their environment, and they get frightened easily. Lucky though, this porpoise is almost as curious as Boey and he is not scared away. Having calmed himself down and knowing that they are the pink dolphins, he replies, “Hello, my name is Danny. I am a finless porpoise. You two must be the pink dolphins, right?” To Natalia’s relief, that little creature is a finless porpoise. She comes out from the back of Boey and greets Danny.

Boey asks Danny, “Would you please tell us if you have heard about the magical stones?” Danny replies, “Mom had told me about this, but we seldom go to the south west waters of Lantau. Are there really magical stones?” Natalia replies, “There should be some. Boey’s great grandma had seen them!” Boey also says, “Right. Natalia and I always go to Fan Lau to look for the magical stones.”  Danny is amused and asks, “When you go and look for the magical stones next time, can I come with you?” Boey and Natalia reply excitingly, “Sure!”

At that time, Danny’s mother is calling him. Danny says goodbye to his new friends. They agree to meet three days later at Fan Lau to look for the magical stones together.

Boey and Natalia continue with their search among the stones on the seabed. The sky turns dark. The two little dolphins have been playing too hard that they forget to hunt for fish. They are now starving. At this moment, some fish come along with the current floating. Take a closer look. Some fish are dying, while some are dead for

quite some time, with rubbish floating along. The two little dolphins hesitate. Should they eat the fish?  Natalia’s uncle comes over and says, “Don’t eat those fish!  The fish are dying because they have eaten a lot of pollutants in the area where factories are found. If you eat these fish, you’ll fall ill.” The two little dolphins have no choice but to look for fish somewhere.

It is now late in the evening and it's time for rest. Boey and Natalia depart to meet their family for rest. For dolphins to get rest, only half of their brain will go to sleep. The other half will stay awake.  This would enable them to surface to breathe. When dolphins rest, they usually gather together for protection.

Today is the big day for Boey, Natalia and Danny to meet and look for the magical stones. After eating fish in the Sha Chau and Lung Kwu Chau Marine Park, Boey meets Natalia near to the artificial reef and swim to Fan Lau together.

Something suddenly roars like thunder. The two little dolphins have to cover up their ears quickly.  A new underwater project has just started. The two little dolphins look at each other annoyingly. Natalia says to Boey, “If this goes on, I’ll soon can’t hear what you says. We will have a difficult time hunting fish and

avoiding boats at high speed if our ears are hurt.” Being positive, Boey comforts Natalia and says, “The project may finish very soon. Then, the sea will become quiet again.”

Chatting while swimming, they come to Tai O. They find a lot of colourful boats around, coming to them at a high speed. Boey finds those boats very attractive and wants to stay for some time. Natalia cannot wait but to hurry Boey away. Natalia says, “The boats almost bumped into us! Why didn’t you escape?” Looking back, Boey finds

that they were surrounded by quite a lot of boats just now. It is lucky that Natalia was there dragging him away.

Danny is already there when Boey and Natalia reach Fan Lau. They chat and share their experiences in the sea. There are thrilling ones and happy ones. They keep looking for the magical stones while chatting.

Suddenly, they found a stone glittering on the seabed. Would that be the magical stone? The three little ones strongly believe that this is the magical stone they have been looking for. They cannot wait but to close their eyes and make a wish. “We wish that the sea can become beautiful again, with lots of fish around us and that people

and dolphins can live in harmony!”

In fact, there are more than one magical stone. We all have a magical stone in our heart. Our marine environment will be full of hope if we all love our sea, protect it from pollution, and do not over use its resources. Dolphins, along with other sea creatures, can then live happily and healthily in our sea.