Three stray rough-toothed dolphins that have been living in the Tamshui River for three weeks will be captured today and trucked to the ocean, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday.
About 40 boats, along with several divers, will participate in the rescue effort. The dolphins will be directed by the boats and divers toward the bank of the river, where, according to the plan, they will be stranded and placed in trucks.
Medical care for the dolphins will be available at Ocean World in Yehliu, Taipei County. Some river traffic will be suspended today.
The three dolphins were first noticed in a section of the river near Guandu Bridge on Feb. 11, not far from where the river meets the sea. In the last three weeks they have swum 10km further upstream. Yesterday they reached Chunghsiao Bridge.
When the dolphins were first discovered, the government decided to leave them undisturbed, but closely monitor their activities. On Wednesday, officials decided that the animals' long stay in fresh water might have a negative impact on their health.
Officials said that fresh water had jeopardized the dolphins' health, with two of them already suffering from tilted dorsal fins. The depth of the river upstream is less than 3m, which is a harmful environment for dolphins.
"Based on our observations, the three dolphins will be unable to find their way out on their own," said Tai Chen-yao (戴振耀), deputy minister of the council.
The rescue needs to be carried out collaboratively in order to minimize the risks, Tai said.
Yesterday, the council worked to integrate resources from government agencies, the Taiwan Cetacean Society and Ocean World in order to undertake the rescue.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS