The gutters at the Marine Wetlands Park in Kaohsiung’s Linyuan District (林園) have been found to contain about 10 species of marine life, with sea anemones being the most vibrant in the miniature marine ecosystem.
The gutters are 200m to 300m long and are about 600m away from the district’s coast.
During a recent visit to the park, Linyuan District Mangrove Conservation Society director-general Su Wen-hua (蘇文華) found marine animals and plants thriving in the gutters of fish farms.
Photo: Hung Chen-hung, Taipei Times
In addition to the upside-down jellyfish and groupers found years ago, other marine species, such as sea anemones, sponges, feather algae, molly fish, gray mullets, tilapia, barnacles and lined fireworms, are also flourishing in the gutters.
Sea anemones are the most vivid species and are found on the walls of the gutters together with sponges of varied colors.
The bottoms of the gutters are lined with green feather algae, while the water is full of upside-down jellyfish and symbiotic algae.
Fish farmers in the district extract sea water for their farms, which, once used, drains out through the gutters onto the wetlands and ultimately ends up back in the ocean, Su said, adding that this provides the right living conditions for marine creatures.
The ocean water contains the seeds and eggs of marine species, which is why the above-mentioned species can be found on land, he explained.
To monitor the quality of the water at the farms, Linyuan Fish Farm Development Society member Su Yu-yuan (蘇有元) cultivates coral, clown fish and sea anemones in an aquarium that is filled with the same sea water the farms use.
Coral in an aquarium usually becomes sick if minerals such as calcium and magnesium are not added to the water within a week, while his coral has lived well even though he has not added any to the water for more than a year, he said.
This is the first time that many of the above-mentioned species have appeared in the wetlands, Su said, but added that the ecosystem along the shore of Linyuan has changed radically over the years, especially when it has been flooded or hit by typhoons.
For example, green mussels used to be abundant in the area, but they disappeared overnight and not one has been seen in 10 years, he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS