A study unveiled at the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday showed that between 39 and 42 Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins inhabit an area of sea near the coast of Yunlin County, but that they were rare near a controversial naphtha cracker.
The meeting was to review a project investigating the ecology of an endangered dolphin species that was commissioned by Formosa Plastics Group Environmentalists have long questioned whether the Formosa Petrochemical’s Sixth Naphtha Cracker plant in Mailiao (麥寮) might cause harm to dolphins in the nearby area.
Project convener Chou Lien-siang (周蓮香), a professor at National Taiwan University’s College of Life Science, said that during boat observations over a distance of 6,609km and spanning 585 hours, the research team spotted Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins on 72 boat trips among a total of 102 trips made in the past three years.
She said the southern part of Yunlin’s coastline, especially near the mouth of Sinhuwei River (新虎尾溪), is a hot spot in which 90 percent of the dolphins were found, with several mother and child pairs.
Chou’s team said dolphins were rarely found in the northern part of Yunlin’s coastline, where the plant is located, and the team suspects that might be caused by the plant’s water emissions changing the pH level of the seawater.
“We discovered that the pH level of the seawater has an effect on the dolphin’s feeding behavior. Therefore, we suggest that the pH level of the nearby ocean area, its habitat, should be maintained above pH8,” Chou said.
“As for noise pollution from boats, we suggest that the speed limit should be under 6 knots,” Chou said.
The meeting concluded that Formosa Plastics Group has to come up with dolphin conservation plans for future expansion projects.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
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