But even the NT$1 million is not enough to cover the cost of the team.
Wang said he has spent his own research grant on the rescue teams for over a decade.
While Wang’s generosity is impressive, he says he has even bigger ambitions.
“I hope to make [the rescue team’s experiences] known to the world. Whale and dolphin rescue is an international issue. After all, whales and dolphins in the waters near Taiwan are not the only whales and dolphins in the world that get stranded because of illness,” Wang said.
Devoted as the rescue team is, it can only deal with whales or dolphins weighing less than 300kg.
Some of the mammals that do not survive are processed and put on bone display in the team’s office.
The exhibition is composed of an impressive collection of 100 sets of whale and dolphin bones, including a 17m, 50-tonne sperm whale that beached itself, died and later exploded in January 2004.
“What I’m trying to do is to make them last forever,” he said.
Having housed a collection of cetacean bones, the research team has also become involved in Tainan City’s environmental education curriculum.
Students studying in the first to fifth grades in Tainan’s elementary schools are required to visit the center to learn about cetaceans once a semester.
“With experiences like this, they will grow up to be animal lovers and will be willing to devote themselves [to animal protection],” Wang said.
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