A biodiversity survey of Taipei County’s Sindian Creek (新店溪) showed that some of the fish species thought to be extinct have reappeared in the creek, evidence of improved water quality in the Tamsui River (淡水河) Estuary, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said.
Yang Hsi-nan (楊喜男), a researcher at the EPA’s Environmental Analysis Laboratory, said they were particularly surprised to find three fish species that did not appear in Sindian Creek in the 2005 survey, including the Monk goby and Awaous ocellaris. Evidence of the Monk goby had not been found for more than 20 years.
“They are anadromous fish,” Yang said. “The fact they were able to travel from the Tamsui River Estuary to Sindian’s Bitan Bridge (碧潭橋) shows that the water quality is good overall.”
The laboratory’s director-general Roam Gwo-dong (阮國棟) attributed the reappearance of the fish species to the sewage treatment plants in Bali (八里) and Dihua (迪化), which have helped raise the density of dissolved oxygen in the water.
Yang said the biodiversity survey is one of the methods used by scientists to gauge the impact of environmental changes on animals. He said the laboratory has researched ways to analyze the water quality and one of them is to select several different types of fish, shellfish and algae to test the acute toxicity of the water.
“If you place any of them in the water and it perishes in about four days, that shows the water is severely poisoned,” Yang said.
Meanwhile, Yang said the laboratory is conducting experiments using water fleas to gauge the chronic toxicity in the water. This involves testing for organic chemicals, environmental hormones and antibiotics.
“We put them [water fleas] in the water for 28 days and see if they become deformed or androgynous,” he said.
The results of the experiments will help the EPA formulate methods to examine the quality of ambient water from science parks, which are scheduled to be promulgated next year, Yang said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS