Environment

Oil Tanker Aground on Taipei Coast

oil tanker aground near shore New Taipei City
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

An CNPC oil tanker carrying 20,000 kiloliters of aviation gas ran aground on the coast of New Taipei City this morning, and is currently sitting less than 200 meters from shore. Tugs have been sent to attempt to tow the ship offshore at high-tide. The ship ran aground at Ruibin at around 9:00am. According to a harbor bureau section chief, the ship was preparing to enter Shen-ao Harbor when the crew miscalculated the depth at low tide. Harbor authorities said

Read more

Exotic Venom-spurting Stinkbugs Invade Taiwan

giant stink bug in Taiwan Tessaratoma papillosa
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taiwan Environmental Information Center has reported that Keelung City has experienced an explosion of giant stink bugs this year. The bugs can spurt a skin-burning venom when disturbed. The exotic species, Tessaratoma papillosa, is believed to have traveled by ship from Kinmen in 2009. The bugs are commonly found in China. Since they arrived, they have been recorded all over the island except for Hualien and Taitung counties. The giant stink bugs are a pest in trees of the Sapindaceae

Read more

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,

Read more

Residents Plant Trees After Water Company Destroys “Green Tunnel”

Residents of Keelung City plant trees
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Photos: United Daily News Residents of Keelung gathered to plant trees in an area previously cleared by Taiwan Water Corporation. The land is owned by the water corporation, but residents were incensed when the government-owned company cleared the land to build a depot. The mature trees once lined both sides of the road, forming what residents called a “green tunnel”. Keelung Mayor Lin You-chang, and legislator Tsai Shi-ying turned up to show their support for the 300 residents who registered

Read more

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

Read more

Crew of Taiwan-owned Boat Released by Pirates after 4 Years Captivity

Somali pirate in front of Taiwanese fishing vessel
Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

The Taiwanese chief engineer of a fishing boat was set free yesterday, along with 25 crew from China, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Cambodia, after being held captive in Somalia for more than four years. The Taiwanese owned, Oman registered fishing vessel Naham 3 was the last commercial ship captured by pirates during Somalia’s pirate scourge. The crew was kidnapped March 2012, but the Taiwan ship owner claimed he had no money to pay the ransom. Of the 29 original crew,

Read more

Flamingos Appear in Taiwan: Birdwatchers Flock to Tainan

Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Photo: Huang Yongfeng A pair of greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) has reappeared at a wetlands in Chiku, Tainan, attracting photographers and birdwatchers. Normally distributed from the north of the Indian sub-continent, through the middle-east, to the Mediterranean coast of Africa and Europe, ecologists are debating why, and how they have appeared in Taiwan. Some have speculated that the birds may have become lost, and some have asked whether it’s possible they may have escaped from a zoo. See related post

Read more

China Lags in Nuclear Waste Disposal

Barrels of nuclear waste
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Chinese scholars held a conference yesterday, October 15, to discuss the issue of nuclear power. It was admitted that China lagged behind India when it came to disposal, or reprocessing of nuclear waste. According to reports cited by Liberty Times Network, China’s first commercial reactor began operations in 1991. About 1,000 tons of nuclear waste is produced annually, and 10,000 tons of radioactive waste is now in storage. Liberty Times cites China’s Science and Technology Daily, who said the nation

Read more

Oil Spills Pose Environmental Threat After Typhoon

Marine and Fisheries 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Ships cast adrift after cables snapped during Typhoon Meranti’s onslaught in southern Taiwan and Kinmen, now pose an environmental threat as oil spills from the stranded vessels. Authorities are struggling to contain oil spills in Kaohsiung’s Xiziwan (West Bay), and on the island of Kinmen (Golden Gate). Four Seine-Net fishing vessels whose cables snapped during the typhoon ran aground in Xiziwan, and oil spilling from the boats is threatening a nearby coral ecosystem. After viewing the site on September 15,

Read more

Ancient Tree Falls in Nantou: 3 Injured

Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

Three people were injured, one seriously, when a 2,800 year-old tree toppled over in a forest recreation area in Nantou County, Sunday, September 11. At around 1:00pm, witnesses heard a large cracking sound as the tree fell into the car park at the Xitou recreation area. A 55 year-old man, a 68 year-old man, and a 49 year-old woman were hit by the tree. The woman’s condition was described as seriously injured but conscious. The tree was a 2,800 year-old

Read more

President to Visit Orchid Island Tomorrow: Nuclear Waste Issue and Transitional Justice

aboriginal people on Orchid Island protest against nuclear waste dumping on their island home
Environment 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen will visit Orchid Island tomorrow, August 15, to confer with residents about a range of issues including the issue of nuclear waste currently stored on the island. A Presidential Palace spokesperson said the president will offer an apology in person to the aboriginal residents for past transgressions. President Tsai apologized to the nation’s indigenous peoples in a formal speech at the Presidential Palace August 1, 2016. In the speech, the president made specific reference to the

Read more