“Hong Kong’s one-man answer to National Geographic”
South China Morning Post Magazine
Welcome to DocMartin
Packed with information, fabulous photos and videos, chiefly on wildlife, conservation, science and travel – especially in Hong Kong and across Asia.
Wildlife
Openbill Storks
Wanted:a place to breed Reaching the road that leads to Ban Thasadet, some 80 kilometres north of Bangkok, I see the giant wooden stork a friend has told me of. It looks uncared for, its straw…
Reptile search on Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong
The Last Hunt Our boat nudges the pier, then pauses against the one flight of steps, a prow-mounted tyre stopping concrete scraping on wood. We clamber ashore, check we have all our gear, and the boat…
conservation
Unrelenting China eco horror show threatens us all
I first came to China in 1985, to study bird migration at Beidaihe, on the coast east of Beijing. There was little traffic in the town, where carts pulled by…
Confessions of a crazy conservationist
I’m about to confess to long-term crazy behaviour on my part. And then, I will read your mind. First, the confession. For over a quarter of a century, I…
science
Perhaps Covid arose through lab leak of tweaked bat Coronavirus
When I first read of Covid originating near a lab conducting experiments with viruses, I thought just coincidence. Since then, I’ve come to believe in lab origin – and that…
The Covid Conundrum: Endless Lockdowns, Let It Rip … or What?
Over two years into the Covid pandemic, and with yet more anti-pandemic measures introduced by the Hong Kong government, it surely seems like we’re in a perpetual state of déjà…
travel
Wailingding – Zhuhai island south of Cheung Chau
Though physically similar to Po Toi, and little more than 10km south of Cheung Chau, Wailingding has a thriving village with a unique character, and a visit makes for an…
On Safari in the Valley Where Snow Leopards Roam
With a broad river surging through a valley that’s in places like a canyon, hemmed in by sandstone cliffs on either side, and little vegetation but swarthy conifers, shrubs and…