Environmental conservationists and students at I-Shou University on Taitung County’s Green Island (綠島) this month began an annual initiative to provide safe passage for crabs walking through traffic to lay eggs, with this year’s program expected to end on Oct. 29.
Sesarmid crabs (Metasesarma aubryi) are a freshwater crab dwelling predominantly in coastal mangroves and are found on Pacific Ocean islands, including Green Island, New Guinea and New Caledonia.
During the breeding season, female crabs travel en masse to lay eggs by the sea. Their journey on Green Island takes them across Huandao Road (環島路), a roundabout freeway that is the main traffic artery for the island.
In July 2014, local resident and historian Lin Teng-jung (林登榮) counted more than 2,000 dead crabs likely killed by traffic.
He decided to organize volunteers to help capture the crabs and relocate them to the sea.
I-Shou University students, local conservation group volunteers and tourists organized by the East Coast Scenic Area Administration have been maintaining the program to escort the crabs since 2014.
The female crabs began their migration in early May this year, and volunteers estimated 420 were killed on the road by June 30, while an additional 100 crabs had been killed by cars in the first two days of this month, Lu said.
However, volunteers on Friday last week escorted more than 300 crabs to the sea and an additional 700 on Saturday, as heavy rains aided efforts by discouraging traffic, he said.
Liu called on motorists to be mindful of the crabs, adding that most crabs use two locations to cross Huandao Road, the first is between Shilang Diving Area (石朗浮潛區) and Gueiwan (龜灣), and the second is between Jhaorih Hot Springs (朝日溫泉) and Weihu (尾湖), adding that the crabs usually migrate at about 5am or 7:30pm.
The crabs’ peak breeding season is over the next two months and volunteer workers have logged close to 2,000 crabs safely escorted in one day, he said.
East Coast Scenic Area Administration director Lin Hsin-jen (林信任) said that tourists can volunteer for the crab-escort program through the Web site www.igreenisland.tw/.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
MINOR DISRUPTION: The outage affected check-in and security screening, while passport control was done manually and runway operations continued unaffected The main departure hall and other parts of Terminal 2 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport lost power on Tuesday, causing confusion among passengers before electricity was fully restored more than an hour later. The outage, the cause of which is still being investigated, began at about midday and affected parts of Terminal 2, including the check-in gates, the security screening area and some duty-free shops. Parts of the terminal immediately activated backup power sources, while others remained dark until power was restored in some of the affected areas starting at 12:23pm. Power was fully restored at 1:13pm. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a
RSS