A man who allegedly harassed dolphins with his yacht off Yilan County has been fined NT$20,000 for breaching the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), the first such case in the nation, the Ocean Conservation Administration (OCA) said yesterday.
In August, a group of tourists on a whale-watching boat reported seeing the man speeding up his vessel toward a group of dolphins near Turtle Island (Gueishan Island, 龜山島).
The dolphins, who were swimming near the surface, dived deeper, as they were seemingly scared by the yacht, the tourists reported at the time, with one of them later handing video footage of the incident to the Yilan County Government.
After an investigation by the Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office, the man was fined NT$20,000 and prosecution of the incident was deferred, the OCA said in a news release.
He contravened Article 42 of the act, which forbids harassing or abusing protected wildlife, it said, adding that all whales and dolphins are protected under Taiwanese law.
It is the nation’s first such case that resulted in a penalty, the OCA said.
The video provided by one of the witnesses was of great help to the investigation, it said, adding that in many reported incidents, the evidence is insufficient and alleged perpetrators cannot be prosecuted.
The OCA last month held a meeting with conservationists, prosecutors, and coast guard and government officials to discuss how to identify and collect evidence in alleged cases of marine wildlife harassment.
Nearly 30 of the world’s more than 80 whale and dolphin species have been reported in the waters near Taiwan, with the best season for watching the animals from April to October, the OCA said.
According to OCA guidelines, ships engaged in wildlife-watching should travel at a slow and steady speed.
Vessels should maintain a distance of at least 50m from the mammals and a distance of at least 300m to nursery groups of whales or dolphins, the guidelines say.
When seeing dolphins riding bow waves of their ships — which allows the dolphins to swim at higher speeds — vessels should keep a steady pace and not change direction abruptly, to avoid scaring or harming the animals, the guidelines say.
China appears to have built mockups of a port in northeastern Taiwan and a military vessel docked there, with the aim of using them as targets to test its ballistic missiles, a retired naval officer said yesterday. Lu Li-shih (呂禮詩), a former lieutenant commander in Taiwan’s navy, wrote on Facebook that satellite images appeared to show simulated targets in a desert in China’s Xinjiang region that resemble the Suao naval base in Yilan County and a Kidd-class destroyer that usually docks there. Lu said he compared the mockup port to US naval bases in Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, and in Subic Bay
Police are investigating the death of a Formosan black bear discovered on Tuesday buried near an industrial road in Nantou County, with initial evidence indicating that it was shot accidentally by a hunter. The bear had been caught in wildlife traps at least five times before, three times since 2020. Codenamed No. 711, the bear received extensive media coverage last year after it was discovered trapped twice in less than two months in the Taichung mountains. After its most recent ensnarement last month, the bear was released in the Dandashan (丹大山) area in Nantou County’s Sinyi Township (信義). However, officials became concerned after the
The majority of parents surveyed in northern Taiwan favor the suspension of all on-site classes at schools from the junior-high level and below amid a surge in domestic COVID-19 infections, parent groups said yesterday. About 84.4 percent of respondents in a survey of 2,912 parents in northern Taiwan, where the outbreak is the most serious, said they supported suspending classes, the Action Alliance on Basic Education, the Taiwan Parents Protect Women and Children Association, and the Taiwan Love Children Association said. The groups distributed questionnaires to parents in New Taipei City, Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu city and county from Saturday morning
DETERRENCE: US National Security Council Indo-Pacific Coordinator Kurt Campbell said cross-strait affairs are on the agenda at the US-ASEAN Special Leaders’ Summit The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked the Czech Senate for passing a resolution supporting Taiwan’s inclusion in the WHO and other international organizations for the second consecutive year. The resolution was passed on Wednesday with 51 votes in favor, one opposed and 11 abstentions. In addition to the WHO, it also called for Taiwan’s participation in the “meetings, mechanisms and activities” of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the International Civil Aviation Organization and Interpol. In its opening, the resolution states that the Czech Republic “considers Taiwan as one of its key partners in the Indo-Pacific region,” while noting its
RSS