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Gueishan opens for whale-watching

Foreign visitors take a whale-watching tour yesterday during the launch of the 2008 Gueishan Island Whale Watching tourist event organized by the Northeast Coastal Scenic Area Administration at Wushih Harbor in Toucheng Township, Ilan County. PHOTO: CNA

The annual whale-watching season near Gueishan Island officially opened yesterday, with hundreds of tourists and foreign media workers packing onto boats to get a glimpse of whales and dolphins off Taiwan’s northeastern coast.

In addition to attracting numerous local tourists, the launch of the 2008 Gueishan Island Whale Watching campaign also attracted more than 100 tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Germany and the US.

The tourists, including reporters and camera crews from three Japanese media outlets, set off from Ilan’s Wushih port in the morning and cruised around Gueishan Island — located about 10km off the coast of Ilan County — to watch whales.

Their ships then docked at the volcanic islet, known literally as “Turtle Mountain Island” because of its resemblance to a turtle, giving visitors a chance to explore the island’s well-preserved environment.

Officials from the Northeast and Ilan Coast National Scenic Area Administration — one of the sponsors of the activity – said the Gueishan Island area is one of the areas around Taiwan with the richest populations of cetaceans, with some 17 species appearing on a regular basis.

Most of the 17 species — including bottlenose dolphins and false killer whales — appear in waters near the Gueishan Island between April and September, the officials said.

They said tourists are welcome to land on Gueishan Island during the spring to enjoy its rich flora in the island’s southernmost section, where wild flowers, cultivated flowers and other natural botanical species are now flourishing around a small lake there.

A former military base, Gueishan used to be closed to civilians and remained so until 2001, when the government designated it as a tourist spot.

With a strict quota system in place limiting the number of tourists allowed to visit the island, advance registration is required to travel there.

Gueishan Island, which is known as an “ecological park on the sea,” is also known as a paradise for underwater geological exploration.
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