The discovery on Thursday of a protected marine species off the coast of Hualien that had been harpooned shows that illegal harpooning is still rampant in Taiwan and action must be taken to preserve the protected species, the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation said yesterday.
Foundation chief executive Chang Hui-chun (張卉君) said that a whale-watching boat carrying clients and two of the foundation’s guides discovered a spinner dolphin drifting in the ocean with two harpoons sticking out of it at about 10am on Thursday.
Despite efforts to lift the dolphin onto the boat so that it could be taken to the Hualien Fishing Port for emergency medical treatment, it died from its injuries about 10 minutes after it was spotted, Chang said.
Photo courtesy of the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation
The spinner dolphin was “at least three years old” and a male, the guides said.
Upon the boat’s return to port, the carcass of the dolphin was handed over to the Coast Guard Administration’s Hualien Fishing Port security office, which forwarded the body, harpoons and bits of leading cable that were still attached to the harpoons to the Hualien Farglory Ocean Park for temporary storage, Chang said.
The office’s deputy director, Lai Ming-chi (賴銘琦), said it would conduct an investigation into which fishing boats in Hualien County are registered to carry harpoon guns in an attempt to find the owner of the harpoons.
Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation office manager Lai Wei-jen (賴威任) said that the harpoons found in the dolphin are commonly used to harpoon swordfish.
Swordfish are not in season and the motives of any fishermen going out to sea with harpoons should be investigated, Lai said, adding that the fishermen might have cut the dolphin loose after realizing they had harpooned the wrong fish.
According to the Council of Agriculture, any person who attempts to hunt or kill a spinner dolphin, which is ranked as a second-class species on the council’s rare animals list, has violated the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法) and could be sentenced to between six months and five years in prison, or fined between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million (US$6,206 and US$31,032).
The government should improve children’s outdoor spaces and accelerate carbon reduction programs, as the risk of heat-related injury due to high summer temperatures rises each year, Greenpeace told a news conference yesterday. Greenpeace examined summer temperatures in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung to determine the effects of high temperatures and climate change on children’s outdoor activities, citing data garnered by China Medical University, which defines a wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) of 29°C or higher as posing the risk of heat-related injury. According to the Central Weather Administration, WBGT, commonly referred to as the heat index, estimates
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taipei placed 14th in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Best Student Cities 2026 list, its highest ever, according to results released yesterday. With an overall score of 89.1, the city climbed 12 places from the previous year, surpassing its previous best ranking of 17th in 2019. Taipei is “one of Asia’s leading higher-education hubs,” with strong employer activity scores and students “enjoying their experience of the city and often keen to stay after graduation,” a QS staff writer said. In addition to Taipei, Hsinchu (71st), Tainan (92nd), Taichung (113th) and Taoyuan (130th) also made QS’ list of the top 150 student cities. Hsinchu showed the
Environmental groups yesterday filed an appeal with the Executive Yuan, seeking to revoke the environmental impact assessment (EIA) conditionally approved in February for the Hsieh-ho Power Plant’s planned fourth liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving station off the coast of Keelung. The appeal was filed jointly by the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association and the Keelung City Taiwan Head Cultural Association, which together held a news conference outside the Executive Yuan in Taipei. Explaining the reasons for the appeal, Wang Hsing-chih (王醒之) of the Protect Waimushan Seashore Action Group said that the EIA failed to address
RSS