Port Shelter, known in Cantonese as Ngau Mei Hoi (), is a
harbour
A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
south of
Sai Kung Peninsula
The Sai Kung Peninsula () is a peninsula in the easternmost part of the New Territories in Hong Kong. Its name comes from Sai Kung Town in the central southern area of the peninsula. The southern part of the peninsula is administrated by Sai ...
in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. The water body connects to Inner Port Shelter (known in Cantonese as Sai Kung Hoi; ), as well as
Hebe Haven
Hebe Haven, also known as Pak Sha Wan (), is a harbour on the south shore of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong.
The harbour has one opening to Port Shelter in its south. The Pak Sha Wan Peninsula, spanning south from Tsiu Hang () hugs the Hebe ...
(),
Rocky Harbour () and other water body. Outer Port Shelter, is situated at the mouth of the harbour.
Geography
The boundary of Port Shelter has different definition according to different sources. Publication of the
U.S. Hydrographic Office
The United States Hydrographic Office prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation.
The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy.
It was transfe ...
, had stated the western shores of Keui Island (now known as
Kau Sai Chau
Kau Sai Chau is an island located off the coast of Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong, with an area of 6.70km², making it the 6th largest island of Hong Kong. It is under the administration of Sai Kung District.
The island was formerly known a ...
) and
Jin Island
Jin Island or Tiu Chung Chau () is an island in the Port Shelter, the New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively it is part of the Sai Kung District.
Geography
Jin Island is located south of the larger island of Kau Sai Chau, from which it is ...
, as well as eastern and north-east shores of the mainland area (now
HKUST
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Clear Water Bay Peninsula, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991 by the British Hong Kong Government, it was the territory's third institution ...
,
Tseung Kwan O New Town
Tseung Kwan O New Town is one of the nine New towns of Hong Kong, new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay (known as Tseung Kwan O in Chinese language, Chinese/Canto ...
and
Clear Water Bay Peninsula :''The Chinese name'' 清水灣半島 ''should not be confused with Oscar by the Sea, a private housing estate in Tseung Kwan O.''
Clear Water Bay Peninsula (), is a peninsula in Sai Kung District, Hong Kong. The peninsula separates Junk Bay fro ...
), were the boundaries of Port Shelter.
The Hydrographic Office also stated the entrance of the harbour lies between
Lung Ha Wan
Lung Ha Wan () is a bay at the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Hong Kong. It is located at the north end of Clear Water Bay Country Park.
The main trail in the country park, Lung Ha Wan Country Trail was named after this bay. The area is also known f ...
(; located in Clear Water Bay Peninsula) and
Peaked Rock , with a width of about .
[ Earlier publication of the Office, had stated the peaked rock is located south of Jin Island. The rock was above water at that time.
Inner Port Shelter is located near the head of Port Shelter, while ]Hebe Haven
Hebe Haven, also known as Pak Sha Wan (), is a harbour on the south shore of Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong.
The harbour has one opening to Port Shelter in its south. The Pak Sha Wan Peninsula, spanning south from Tsiu Hang () hugs the Hebe ...
was classified as an inlet
An inlet is a (usually long and narrow) indentation of a shoreline, such as a small arm, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea.
Overview
In marine geogra ...
in the western shore of Port Shelter.[ The entrance of Inner Port Shelter lies between Yingam Tow and a line of rocks that extended from Kiau To , an islet (now spells as Kiu Tau; ).][ The islet itself is connected to ]Sharp Island
Sharp Island or Kiu Tsui Chau () is the largest island in the Kiu Tsui Country Park located at Port Shelter of Sai Kung, Hong Kong. The area is most known for fishing, swimming as well as diving. Sharp Island is under the administration of ...
(Kiu Tsui Chau; ) by a bank.[ The bank, or known as a sand levee or a ]tombolo
A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island become ...
, is part of the Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark
Hong Kong UNESCO Global Geopark (), formerly Hong Kong National Geopark (香港國家地質公園), was inaugurated on 3 November 2009. It is a single entity of land area over 150 km2 across parts of the eastern and northeastern New Territo ...
.
While The Hydrographic Office's 1943 publication did not have the definition of Outer Port Shelter, H.K.'s Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department
The Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (; formerly the Agriculture and Fisheries Department () before 2000, of the Hong Kong Government is responsible for agriculture and fisheries in Hong Kong, conservation projects and issu ...
had deployed artificial reef to the Outer Port Shelter in the 2000s. They defined the area by coordinates instead. Roughly, it is a triangular area between Steep Island, Basalt Island
Basalt Island or Fo Shek Chau () is an island of Hong Kong and administratively part of the Sai Kung District. Together with Wang Chau and Bluff Island, it forms the Ung Kong () Group and is part of Hong Kong Global Geopark.
Geography
Basalt I ...
and the southern shore of Jin Island (known as Tiu Chung Chau in the publication).[
]Environmental Protection Department
Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is a department of Hong Kong Government concerning the issues of environmental protection in Hong Kong.The EPD is responsible for developing policies covering environmental protection, nature conserva ...
, partnered with local universities, also conducted water quality and phytoplankton research in the Port Shelter. In their research, they used a border definition of the area, which their Port Shelter includes Port Shelter proper, Inner and Outer Port Shelter as well as Hebe Haven, and is a bay that "bordered on its northernside by the Sai Kung Peninsula and on its west and southwestern sides by the Clear Water Bay Peninsula".[ They also found out that, some data point of their research, are obviously influenced by surface runoff and pollution loading from the surrounding catchment area.]
Islands
These islands are considered within the boundary of the water body of the Port Shelter proper: The three largest islands were Kau Sai Chau, Jin Island and Sharp Island respectively.
* Kau Sai Chau
Kau Sai Chau is an island located off the coast of Sai Kung Peninsula, Hong Kong, with an area of 6.70km², making it the 6th largest island of Hong Kong. It is under the administration of Sai Kung District.
The island was formerly known a ...
()[
* ]Jin Island
Jin Island or Tiu Chung Chau () is an island in the Port Shelter, the New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively it is part of the Sai Kung District.
Geography
Jin Island is located south of the larger island of Kau Sai Chau, from which it is ...
(; Tiu Chung Chau)
* Sharp Island
Sharp Island or Kiu Tsui Chau () is the largest island in the Kiu Tsui Country Park located at Port Shelter of Sai Kung, Hong Kong. The area is most known for fishing, swimming as well as diving. Sharp Island is under the administration of ...
(; Kiu Tsui Chau)
* Shelter Island (; Ngau Mei Chau)[
* Yim Tin Tsai ()]
* Kwun Cham Wan Kwun Cham Wan () is a small island in Port Shelter, Hong Kong. It is under the administration of Sai Kung District
Sai Kung District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The district comprises t ...
()
* Tuen Tau Chau ()
* Yau Lung Kok Yau may refer to:
* Yau (surname), Hong Kong surname
* Yau language, a Finisterre language of New Guinea
* Yau language (Torricelli), a Torricelli language of Papua New Guinea
* Hodï language (ISO 639-3: yau), a language of Venezuela
* Kattiniq/Do ...
()
* Table Island (; Ping Min Chau)
* Mong Chau Tsai
Mong may refer to:
People
*A proposed original name for the Hmong people, based on the main group, the Mong community
*Bob Mong (), American journalist and academic administrator
*Henry Mong (), American surgeon and Presbyterian missionary
*Mong M ...
()
* Shek Chau ()
Note: the book ''Southern District Officer Reports: Islands and Villages in Rural Hong Kong, 1910–60'' also listed High Island
Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...
, Town Island
Town Island (, Fo Tau Fan Chau), also known as Dawn Island is an island in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is located south of the former High Island, in the Sai Kung District of the territory.
A drug rehabilitation centre was established on ...
and Ninepin Group
The Ninepin Group () or Kwo Chau Islands () is a group of 29 islands in the easternmost waters of Hong Kong. The Ninepin Group falls under the jurisdiction of Sai Kung District of Hong Kong.
Islands
The islands of the group include:
* East ...
in their chapter "The Islands of Port Shelter".[ But the first two are located in Rocky Harbour, and the last one is outside the mouth of Outer Port Shelter.
]
Within Inner Port Shelter
These islands are considered within the boundary of the water body of Inner Port Shelter:[
* Yeung Chau ()
* Pak Sha Chau ()
* ]Cham Tau Chau
Cham Tau Chau () is a small uninhabited island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it belongs to the Sai Kung District. It lies within the Inner Port Shelter, south of Sai Kung Peninsula, north of Sharp Island and Tai Tsan Chau (). Cham Tau Chau has a ...
()
* Kiu Tau
Kiu is a settlement in Kenya
)
, national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, ...
()
* Tai Tsan Chau
Tai or TAI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain
*Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless''
*Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon''
Businesses and organisations ...
()
* Tai Chau
Tai or TAI may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain
*Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless''
*Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon''
Businesses and organisations ...
()
* Lap Sap Chau
A lap is a surface (usually horizontal) created between the knee and hips of a biped when it is in a seated or lying down position. The lap of a parent or loved one is seen as a physically and psychologically comfortable place for a child to sit ...
()
* Siu Tsan Chau ()
Freshwater discharge
The greater Port Shelter area receives discharge from Ho Chung River
Ho (or the transliterations He or Heo) may refer to:
People Language and ethnicity
* Ho people, an ethnic group of India
** Ho language, a tribal language in India
* Hani people, or Ho people, an ethnic group in China, Laos and Vietnam
* Hiri Mo ...
(), Tai Chung Hau Stream (), and Sha Kok Mei Stream (),[ as well as man-made storm outfalls and a submarine outfall from the Sai Kung Sewage Treatment Works.]
Physical properties
According to measurements by a research, the average salinity
Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...
of their three sampling stations was 32.7.[ All stations are located inside Port Shelter. The measurements, conducted from 4 October 2012 to 15 April 2013, also found that the average water temperature was 19.1 °C (with a range from 15.8 °C to 27.8 °C), as well as pH (acidity) of 8.08, with range from 7.62 to 8.35.] They also recorded the vertical profile for some of their measurements.[
Another research, recorded and estimated the tidal flushing time of the greater Port Shelter area which their tidal stations were deployed in the Port Shelter proper, as well as in Rocky Harbour, Hebe Haven, Inner Port Shelter and Outer Port Shelter. Such as a station at Leung Shuen Wan (; or known as ]High Island
Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...
) and in Po Toi O
Po Toi O () is a small fishing village at Clear Water Bay Peninsula, Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong.
The village is situated at a bay shaped like a sack, thus earning its name Po Toi (meaning a "sack").
Administration
Po Toi O is a rec ...
.[ They concluded that in the inner Port Shelter, the flushing time is the longest among the fish culture zones of Hong Kong, which is 40 days in the dry season.][ While Po Toi O is located at the mouth of Port Shelter, its hydrodynamics is mainly affected by the open ocean, thus the flushing time was just 5.3 days in dry season in the computer estimation.][
]
Biodiversity
A research conducted in 2006, had recorded a total of 106 fish species in Port Shelter in their preliminary report, including rare species ''Cephalopholis urodeta
''Cephalopholis urodeta'', the darkfin hind, flagtail rockcod, chevron rockcod, duskyfin hind, duskyfin rockcod, flagtail grouper or V-tail grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is in t ...
'', ''Bodianus axillaris
''Bodianus axillaris'', the axilspot hogfish, coral pigfish or turncoat hogfish, is a species of wrasse native to the Indo-Pacific.
Description
The axilspot hogfish is sexually dimorphic with the adult males being coloured reddish-brown on th ...
'' and ''Echidna nebulosa
The snowflake moray (''Echidna nebulosa''), also known as the clouded moray among many vernacular names, is a species of marine eel of the family Muraenidae. It has blunt teeth ideal for its diet of crustaceans, a trait it shares with the zebra m ...
''.
History
In a 1863 book, stated Port Shelter and Rocky Harbour are the two main components of a deep bay. At that time the water body was still part of the Qing Empire
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
, under the Xin'an County
Xin'an County () is a county in the west of Henan Province, bordering Shanxi Province to the north across the Yellow River. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Luoyang, and contains its northernmost point.
History
In an ...
.
Port Shelter was also mentioned in a report to the UK government in 1898 by James Stewart Lockhart
Sir James Haldane Stewart Lockhart, (25 May 1858 – 26 February 1937) was a British colonial official in Hong Kong and China for more than 40 years. He also served as Commissioner of British Weihaiwei from 1902 to 1921. Additionally, he was ...
, shortly after the signing of the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory
The Convention between the United Kingdom and China, Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory, commonly known as the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory or the Second Convention of Peking, was a lease signed between Qing ...
. It stated the harbour is a deep water port that suitable for ships in any size. The Convention ceded Port Shelter and other areas that collectively known as the New Territories
The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...
and New Kowloon
New Kowloon is an area in Hong Kong, bounded in the south by Boundary Street, and in the north by the ranges of the Eagle's Nest, Beacon Hill, Lion Rock, Tate's Cairn and Kowloon Peak. It covers the present-day Kwun Tong District and Wong Tai S ...
, to the British Empire, as an extension of the colony of Hong Kong
Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...
.
In the past, villagers from the six villages of Pak Tam Chung
Pak Tam Chung () is an area in the southern part of the Sai Kung Peninsula in the New Territories of Hong Kong. It is administratively under the Sai Kung District.
Features
Pak Tam Chung was described as consisting of six villages in 1911 with ...
, would collect coral from Port Shelter to make lime. Nowadays, fishermen still catch Sea urchin
Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...
in the Port Shelter.
Related administrative areas
Former Port Shelter Firing Range
In 1950, (some source said 1936[) the harbour and some islands were part of the Port Shelter Firing Range, an outdoor firing range for the British military that stationing on the colony.] Most of the range ceased to be used in the 1970s. The government also relocated the residents of Kau Sai Chau, an island in the firing range to the land area of Hebe Haven (known as Pak Sha Wan in the publication) in the 1950.[ The permanent housing was completed in 1954.
In 2011, Shelter Island, which was formerly part of the firing range, had discovered a ]mortar shell
A mortar is usually a simple, lightweight, man-portable, muzzle-loaded weapon, consisting of a smooth-bore (although some models use a rifled barrel) metal tube fixed to a base plate (to spread out the recoil) with a lightweight bipod mount and a ...
.
Port Shelter Water Control Zone
Despite there is no legal definition of the boundary of the water body, a related concept Port Shelter Water Control Zone had a legally defined boundary. It was regulated by the Water Pollution Control Ordinance
Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...
(Chapter 358 of the Law of Hong Kong) as well as "Water Pollution Control (Port Shelter Water Control Zone) Order" (Chapter 358M) and other regulations. The water control zone covers not only the Port Shelter and Inner Port Shelter proper, but also Hebe Haven, Sham Tuk Mun (), Tsam Chuk Wan
Tsam Chuk Wan () is a bay of the Sai Kung Peninsula in Hong Kong. By extension, it is also the name of the area around the bay. Tsam Chuk Wan Village () is one of the villages located within this area.
History
A Catholic missionary station was ...
(), Rocky Harbour () and many other surrounding water body.
In 2018, Typhoon Mangkhut
Typhoon Mangkhut (), known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ompong, was a powerful and catastrophic tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage in Guam, the Philippines and South China in September 2018. It was the strongest typhoon to strike Lu ...
damaged the Sai Kung Sewage Treatment Works, which just bordering the water control zone. After emergency repairs, the government did not find the water quality of the water control zone had become worse.
Outer Port Shelter Marine Park (proposed)
Another related and overlapping concept, the proposed Outer Port Shelter Marine Park, was scrapped in 2014. The proposed size of the marine park was .[
In 2018, ]World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wor ...
proposed to establish Port Shelter Marine Protected Area. They proposed to turn at least 30% area of Port Shelter to be a no-take zone. Their definition of Port Shelter was excluding Hebe Haven, Outer Port Shelter and part of Inner Port Shelter, with a size of .
Port Shelter, Inner Port Shelter, along with Rocky Harbours were also included in a proposed fisheries protection area in the 2000s, while Outer Port Shelter was listed as a no-take zone.
As Specified Sheltered Waters
In the Schedule 2 of the Merchant Shipping (Certification and Licensing) Regulation (Chapter 548D of H.K. Law), they defined Port Shelter, in Specified Sheltered Waters context. For the purpose of that regulation, they defined Port Shelter Area as:
The specified sheltered water that defined from above coordinates and natural boundaries, actually covers the Inner Port Shelter and Hebe Haven but only part of Port Shelter, that defined by the publication of the U.S. Hydrographic Office
The United States Hydrographic Office prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation.
The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy.
It was transfe ...
, which draw the southern boundaries from Lung Ha Wan
Lung Ha Wan () is a bay at the Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Hong Kong. It is located at the north end of Clear Water Bay Country Park.
The main trail in the country park, Lung Ha Wan Country Trail was named after this bay. The area is also known f ...
to a peaked rock south of Jin Island
Jin Island or Tiu Chung Chau () is an island in the Port Shelter, the New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively it is part of the Sai Kung District.
Geography
Jin Island is located south of the larger island of Kau Sai Chau, from which it is ...
.
That regulation also defined "Port Shelter and Rocky Harbour Area" that cover all of the Port Shelter (and some part of Outer Port Shelter by some definitions) and Rocky Harbour:[
]
References
{{Ports and harbours of Hong Kong
Ports and harbours of Hong Kong
Sai Kung District