The Taitung County Government on Wednesday called on whale-watching enthusiasts to keep their distance from the most recently sighted pod of whales off Taiwan’s eastern coast to foster an ocean-friendly environment.
A hostel in Changbin Township (長濱) reported the sighting of two humpback whales near Taitung County’s scenic Basian Caves (八仙洞), the county government said, adding that two pods of four humpback whales were sighted off the east coast on Tuesday, with the first whales sighted near the Basian Caves and the others sighted near Jieciao (?橋).
The most recent previous sighting of humpback whales was in March 2021 off the coast of Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島).
Photo copied by Liu Jen-wei, Taipei Time
Sightings of humpback whales are considered fortuitous by the Tao people, as it is believed to precede the arrival of flying fish.
Expert Yeh Chien-cheng (葉建成) said that reports of humpback whales in 2005, 2021 and last year were singular sightings, adding that the recent sightings were not indicative that humpback whale sightings off the east coast of Taiwan were increasing year-on-year.
Only the whales’ tails were sighted near the Basian Caves, which was insufficient to tell the gender of the whales, Yeh said, adding that the photos would be uploaded to international Web sites where whale watchers and experts would hopefully be able to identify the whales and where they have been.
Yeh said he hoped to continue to record how many humpback whales travel off the coast of Taitung from February to May each year, adding that the whales were a ubiquitous sight a century ago.
The Taitung County Department of Agriculture said its application for subsidies from the Ocean Affairs Council to promote humpback whale conservation had been approved and urged county residents, as well as other whale watchers, to notify the county government of any whale sightings.
Yeh urged ships traveling in the seas near Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines to lower their speeds to below 10 knots if they spot humpback whales, as it is mating and breeding season for the whales.
Whale-watching ships should also keep a distance of at least 100m, he added.
The county government also called on ships to reduce speeds to below 10 knots after sighting humpback whales in front of them, and to steer away from the whales.
Whale-watching ships must not try to overtake whales, encircle them or cut through the waters between mother whales and their young, it added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS