Penghu marine biologists are to investigate environmental changes along the county’s northern coastline after a resident’s aerial photographs showed the expansion of beaches within a six-month period.
Kuo Wei-min (郭偉民) took aerial pictures of Pengpeng Beach (澎澎灘) this month and discovered the islet had grown significantly in comparison with photographs taken on Nov. 24 last year.
The islet’s growth might be due to changes in currents or to climate change, Penghu Marine Biology Research Center director Justin Hsieh (謝恆毅) said, adding that he would send researchers to the islet to investigate.
Pengpeng, a sandbar approximately 1km in length at high tide, is located roughly in the middle of the waters between Yuanbei Islet (員貝嶼) to its southwest and Niaoyu Islet (鳥嶼) to its east.
At low tide Pengpeng and Niaoyu form one continuous sandbar.
In official Baisha Township (白沙) documents from 1977 there is no mention of Pengpeng, showing the sandbar did not exist at the time, Hsieh said.
Local residents recall seeing the sandbar emerge after Typhoon Wayne in 1986, Hsieh said, adding that it was initially referred to colloquially by the name “Live Dragon Beach” (活龍灘) as its appearance would change with the flow of water and the changing tides.
People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) changed its name to Yushui Beach (魚水灘) during his term as Taiwan provincial governor, Hsieh said.
The name was derived from the homophone for “yu” (瑜) from his name combined with the character shui (水) from the name of his wife, Viola Chen (陳萬水), Hsieh added.
As the sandbar has become a habitat for terns during the summer, the Penghu County Government declared three quarters of Pengpeng Beach a conservation area to protect it from tourism operators who have sought to develop it, he said.
However, conservation officials who visited the islet earlier this year discovered that industry operators were encroaching on the conservation area, he said.
The officials also discovered that a section of coral reef along the sandbar had been badly damaged by the installation of a 4m-tall light for passing boats, he said.
The growth of Pengpeng over the past six months might have something to do with the accumulation of coral fragments along its perimeter, as well as the relatively weaker northeasterly seasonal winds this winter, he said.
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