A group of animal rights activists yesterday called on the US government to reject a proposal by the Columbia University-affiliated Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (L-DEO) to conduct earthquake studies on Taiwan’s sea floor, saying that air guns used in the project would harm the near-extinct Chinese white dolphins living in the area.
“Taiwan’s population of Chinese white dolphins (Sousa chinensis) was rated ‘critically endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2008; currently, we estimate that less than 100 animals exist,” said Allen Chen (陳昭倫), spokesperson for the East Taiwan Strait Sousa Technique and Advisory Working Group.
Chen, who is an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Research Center for Biodiversity, said that although Chinese white dolphins are also found along the coasts of China, India and east Africa, “studies have revealed that [the Chinese white dolphin] population in Taiwan never crosses the Taiwan Strait and therefore is independent from the rest of the Chinese white dolphins in the world.”
SEA FLOOR
Earlier last month, Chen’s group and the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association (WaH), an environmental group, found a public announcement on the US’ National Marine Fisheries Service Web site saying that the L-DEO planned to conduct a sea floor investigation project in the exclusive economic zone that includes Taiwan, China, Japan and the Philippines for its earthquake research, Chen said.
“The transect line will hit the dolphin’s habitat from Hsinchu to Yunlin along the island’s west coast,” he said.
“Air guns that are 265 decibels [dB], multibeam echosounders and sub-bottom profilers will be used under the sea in the project,” said WaH founder Robin Winkler (文魯彬), adding that the noise level of an exploding atomic bomb is about 300db.
Chen said although L-DEO had applied for Incidental Harassment Authorization under the condition that only Level B Harassments (potential disturbances) based on the US’ Marine Mammal Protection Act would be done to the mammal stock, Level A Harassments (potential injuries) are in fact highly likely.
“To the dolphins, this is like firing gigantic ‘firecrackers’ in their homes ... As dolphins navigate with sound waves, this will grossly disturb their movement, in addition to shocking the animals,” he said.
‘POORLY DONE’
Chen also said the environmental impact assessment on the project was poorly done.
“All data were drawn from existing documents and guesstimates from past experiences, instead of sending researchers to Taiwan to investigate life in the seas,” he said.
“We acknowledge that [earthquake] investigations are very important and know that many technologies are used to make the world a better place. However, when a technology threatens existing ecosystems, its implementation needs to be reconsidered, and alternative options explored,” Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS