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.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai