Marine biologists at Academia Sinica have spotted a previously unknown patch of algal reefs along the coast of Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) in Taitung County, with a total surface area estimated to be larger than any other algal reef in eastern Taiwan, sources at the institution said on Thursday.
“It is quite a surprise to find so large a patch of algal reefs that is relatively undisturbed by human activities,” said Allen Chen (陳昭倫), an associate researcher at Academia Sinica’s Research Center for Biodiversity.
Algal reefs are formed by crystalline calcium carbonates left by dead calcareous algae.
PHOTO: CHEN HSIEN-I, TAIPEI TIMES
To date, the largest patch of algal reefs found in eastern Taiwan is located in Kenting National Park’s Jialeshui (佳樂水) area. However, based on preliminary estimates, the reefs in Shanyuan Bay could be bigger, Chen said.
Chen said that according to past observation, seawater temperatures are higher than normal in Shanyuan Bay, which would usually inhibit the development of algal reefs. However, the new findings contradict this premise, he said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching