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).
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS