Green sea turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs should be reported to the Penghu County Government to help preserve the endangered species, especially as the national conservation zone in Wangan Island (望安島) is seeing fewer of the turtles return to lay eggs, the Penghu Department of Agriculture and Fisheries said.
Wangan Island was designated a conservation area for green sea turtles in 1991, when 16 turtles — a high — returned to lay eggs, but the numbers have been dropping ever since, the department said.
Only one turtle was reported returning to lay eggs in 2014 and two last year, the department said.
Photo: Liu Yu-ching, Taipei Times
Magong Island’s (馬公) Shihli (蒔裡) and Longmen (龍門) districts have seen more of the turtles returning.
Hawksbill sea turtles have also been reported in Husi (湖西) and Nanliao (南寮) districts, the department said.
Other locations, such as Jibei Islet (吉貝嶼), Penghu beach and other beaches around the county have all reported sightings of turtles laying eggs, the department said, adding that it is asking county residents to report any sightings to help conserve the places where these endangered reptiles lay eggs.
The Council of Agriculture and the Forestry Bureau have given permission for officials to dig out weaker turtles that are struggling to make it out of their nests once the majority of young turtles have been seen moving toward the sea.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS