marine ecology

Leatherback sea turtle dies after ingesting fishing line

stranded leatherback sea turtle
Animals Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Hengchun, Taiwan – A leatherback turtle found stranded on the coast of Pingtung County in southern Taiwan in July died of starvation due to fishing line stuck in its digestive tract, an autopsy revealed. Taiwan’s Ocean Affairs Council released autopsy results indicating that the cause of death was necrotizing enteritis, as the turtle’s stomach was empty, and its intestinal tract contained a total of 425 centimeters of fishing line. This obstruction led to folding and twisting in the lower digestive

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Rare “living fossil” goblin shark caught off Taiwan’s east coast purchased by museum

Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Fishermen operating out of Nanfang’ ao Fishing Port in Yilan County caught a rare deep-sea goblin shark (Mitsukurina owstoni) yesterday, and it will be used as an educational exhibit after it was purchased by a museum. The 800-kilogram, 4.7-meter-long goblin shark was caught at a depth of 8oo meters in a bottom-trawl net, drawing criticism from some quarters. The fact that the shark carried six unborn babies in its womb made critics even angrier. According to the Fisheries Agency of

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Live leatherback turtle found stranded on beach entangled in fishing nets

stranded turtle entangled in discarded fishing nets
Animals Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A live leatherback turtle was sent to National Taiwan Ocean University for medical treatment after being found stranded on New Taipei City beach yesterday, February 1. Coast Guard personnel were dispatched to Fulong Beach in Gongliao District after National Coast Guard Administration received reports of a large sea turtle seen entangled in discarded fishing nets and stranded on the beach at around 10:00 am. Coast Guard officers found the animal to be a leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea), a species

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Taiwanese white dolphin in critical danger of extinction: threats to habitat increasing

coast guard officers with dead dolphin
Animals Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Marine conservationists sounded a warning that the Taiwanese white dolphin is seriously threatened with extinction during a press conference held by environmental protection groups at the Legislative Yuan following the discovery of a dead dolphin on Taiwan’s west coast last week. Experts in the field of marine biology pointed out that there were only about 60 individuals left of the only subspecies of dolphin endemic to Taiwan (Sousa chinensis taiwanensis). After being first described in 2002, the Taiwanese white dolphin was

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Rare visitor: Seal appears at fishing port in northern Taiwan

seal at Bitou Fishing Port
Animals 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

In what may be a historical first, a juvenile seal was spotted at a fishing port in New Taipei City yesterday, but swam away this morning, October 25, after divers dispatched by the animal protection department attempted to catch the animal. Tourists visiting the Bitou Fishing Port in Ruifang District yesterday, Sunday, first spotted the seal swimming playfully in the harbor. At first it was speculated that the animal must be a Eurasian Otter, as seals have never been known

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15 Rehabilitated Turtles Returned to the Sea

turtles released into the ocean after rehabilitation
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Penghu County Agriculture and Fisheries Bureau released 15 rehabilitated turtles back into the wild after inviting students from local elementary schools, National Penghu University of Science and Technology, and members of the general public to participate in the event this morning, May 15. Six of the turtles had hatched during the 2015 and 2016 breeding seasons, but had been too weak to climb out of the nest on their own. The juvenile turtles were now around 30 centimeters long, and

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Litter Found in Stomachs of Dolphinfish

plastic litter found after being consumed by fish caught in Taiwan
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 2 Comments , ,

The manager of a fish-processing plant uploaded pictures to social media yesterday, after finding a a plastic ring, plastic straw, and other foreign objects in a fishes’ stomach. He hopes that the pictures will draw attention to the problem of environmental pollution. Chen Jun-jie has been working in the seafood industry for more than 20 years, and said that recently there have been more cases of discarded objects found in fish stomachs. Objects found recently include plastic straws, rubber bands,

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Prison Walls Turned into 3D Eco-Mural

3D mural on the walls of Green Island Prison, Taiwan
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Photo: Central News Agency The once drab concrete walls of a prison on Green Island have been transformed into a series of 3D murals, depicting the marine ecology of the island, and surrounding ocean. The murals were unveiled at a ceremony today, Wednesday, 26 October, 2016. The notorious prison was used by the KMT (Chinese Nationalist Party) government during the martial-law era between 1949 and 1986. Political prisoners were housed there, as well as dangerous criminals and gangsters. Today, the

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Three Dead Dolphins Washed Up on Taiwan’s East Coast

Dolphins washed up on a beach on the East coast of Taiwan in 2016
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Three dead dolphins were found washed up on the shore near Fengbin Township in Hualian County yesterday, April 18, 2016. Coast Guard personnel brought the carcasses onto the beach and contacted the Taiwan Cetacean Society, who dissected the animals took samples back to their lab to attempt to identify the cause of the deaths. Reporters asked whether recent earthquake activity may be a contributing factor, but the marine biologists were not willing to speculate. Coast Guard personnel helped bury the

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