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.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
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