A red-breasted merganser on Saturday drowned off New Taipei City after becoming entangled in an abandoned fishing net, raising concerns about waste in Taiwan’s marine environments.
A bird-watcher spotted the duck not far off the coast of Shihmen District (石門) at about 9:40am and called animal protection services shortly after.
It was unable to fly, as it was caught in a fishing net and succumbed to the strength of the waves, the bird-watcher said.
Photo courtesy of Chen Yu-hsin
Animal protection personnel were on their way to the site when the duck drowned at about 11am, the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office said.
People should call 1959 immediately if they see wild animals in need of rescue, the office said.
The red-breasted merganser is a winter migratory bird rarely seen in Taiwan.
This year five of the ducks, known for their red plumage, were spotted off the coast of Shihmen, attracting the attention of bird-watchers.
Discarded fishing nets, fishing lines, plastic and other waste are not only dangerous to aquatic birds, but also to whales, dolphins, sea turtles and other marine animals, said Huang Shu-ting (黃蜀婷), president of a bird-watching club.
“Today it is a red-breasted merganser, but tomorrow it could be a dolphin, turtle or other birds,” Huang said, urging fishers to properly dispose of fishing gear.
The incident will hopefully raise public awareness of marine pollution and the importance of protecting Taiwan’s marine ecosystem, she said.
Agencies should bolster their management of marine waste so that Taiwan’s oceans can become a true sanctuary for marine wildlife, she added.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS