Peng Kuan-chieh (彭冠傑), who fell in love with sea turtles during a childhood visit to the Green Sea Turtle Museum in Penghu County’s Wangan Township (望安), has channeled his passion into making polymer clay models of the creatures, which are being used to encourage conservation efforts and to raise money.
“Seeing the turtles and their filmy eyes, they were so cute,” Peng on Friday said of his childhood visit.
He was also moved by watching a program on the Discovery Channel that detailed how sea turtles laid their eggs on beaches, he said.
Photo: CNA
He chose to study sea turtles for his master’s degree and is even serving his alternative military service on Pingtung’s Siaoliouciou Island (小琉球) to be closer to the reptiles.
Green sea turtles can often be seen hunting for food at high tide in the waters off Siaoliouciou, Peng said.
However, the animals can only be seen on Wangan’s beaches during the spawning season, he added.
Photo: CNA
The ban on gill nets in the region has led to frequent sightings of small to middle-sized sea turtles, Peng said.
After a hostel owner asked him for one of his models, Peng said it gave him the idea that he could put them to good use and decided to make a large number.
The Dapeng Bay National Scenic Park uses the models to raise money for sea turtle conservation, saying on their Facebook page that those who donate 10 receipts to the park can receive one for free.
All 35 models were snapped up within minutes of the offer being posted, Peng said.
Peng said he is to attend five beach cleaning events organized by the park this month and he would be offering five turtles to participants at each clean-up.
Participants would receive one coin for every 2kg of trash they pick up and they would be able to exchange the coins for models, Peng said.
He is also making 10 more models available for the park to exchange for 20 receipts, he said.
Peng said he hoped to be able be work on sea turtle conservation or a related field, but if he could not find paid work, he would continue to help out as a volunteer.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
RSS