Peng Chau Rocky Shore Tour

The tour involves ‘Situating Circatidal’, an exhibition about the intimate relationship between the tide, coastal environments and organisms in the interisland region. Having this central theme in mind, visitors will be led to explore a rocky shore in Peng Chau to link between the exhibition content and actual, on-shore ecological patterns, and reflect on how the circatidal rhythm acts as the ultimate driver of coastal ecology and biodiversity.

About the Host:

Tommy Hui is currently a Research Assistant Professor at the Science Unit of  Lingnan University. He is an intertidal ecologist with broad interest in behavioural ecology, physiology and biodiversity patterns.

About 'Situating Circatidal' 

"Water of the great sea – emerges twice a day respectively as morningtide and nighttide."

Humans live by solar time, from dawn to dusk, a 24-hour cycle.

Coastal organisms, however, live by lunar time, two tidal 'bulges' a day, a 24 hour-and-50-minute cycle.

Because of the tidal rise and fall, significant differences in temperature, humidity, and wave exposure can be found at different heights on the rocky shore. This gives birth to a colorful gradient of life, from algae growth to organism colonization, an ecosystem zoned from low to high levels.

The life forms found within compact space, a few meters of height difference along the coastline, sometimes exceed what is found at several hundred meters sprawl on land.

The lunar time is manifested through the habitats on the rocky shore.

The coastline is no longer just a line because of the tides.

‘Situating Circatidal’ aims to visually explore the biodiversity patterns in the coastal environments of Peng Chau and Mui Wo - at the intersection of co-dependent survival and territorial kinships, to retell the stories of lunar time.

Situating Circatidal is a work of Joanne Chan, Fok Chun-wing and Tommy Hui. Learn more about the exhibition here.

Acknowledgement: Science Unit, Lingnan University & HKU Tropical Intertidal Ecology Group.