Animal rights advocates yesterday urged the National Science Council (NSC) to revoke a license for an international collaborative project investigating seismic structural features of the earth’s crust in order to avoid harming marine life.
The activists made the appeal during a protest rally in front of the NSC in Taipei.
The council is sponsoring the Taiwan Integrated Geodynamics Research (TAIGER) project.
The earthquake study initiated by the Columbia University-affiliated Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory is a sea floor investigation project in the exclusive economic zones of Taiwan, China, Japan and the Philippines, the conservationists said.
They said that air guns, which will be used under the sea in the study, could produce a noise equivalent to 265 decibels (dB), and could be a threat to sharks and dolphins.
The US government launched an environmental impact assessment last December and established measures aimed at minimizing adverse effects on the marine ecosystem last month, the activists said.
In comparison, the NSC granted a research permit for the project without getting the results of the impact assessment, the conservationists said.
Pointing out that the NSC convened a review meeting on the project last December but refused to make public the meetings’ minutes, the activists said they should be given a chance to provide relevant information and marine experts should be allowed to express their opinion to the NSC.
In response, NSC official Cheng Chien-hong (鄭建鴻) said boats used in the experiment will be equipped with facilities to protect marine animals.
He also said marine biologists would call a halt to the firing of air guns any time that noise limits are breached.
Upon its completion next year, the new Tamkang Bridge (淡江大橋) in New Taipei City is to be an important landmark in Taiwan, alongside Taipei 101, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shi-kai (陳世凱) said today. The bridge is scheduled to be completed in December next year and open to the public in the first half of 2026, connecting New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里) districts. It is an asymmetric single-tower suspension bridge, nearly 70 stories tall, designed by world-famous architect Zaha Hadid. The bridge aims to alleviate traffic in Tamsui and on the Guandu Bridge (關渡大橋), in addition to increasing the
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
EXERCISES: A 2022 article by a Chinese intelligence expert identified at least six People’s Liberation Army assault boats hidden inside the Hong Kong-flagged ship A Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship that had been docked at Taichung Port and which previously took part in Chinese military exercises departed from the port on Saturday, the Taiwan International Ports Corp’s Taichung branch said yesterday. The statement came in response to a post on the social media platform X by Taiwan-based journalist Chris Horton that said the ship, the SCSC Fortune, had been docked at the port since Tuesday and questioned whether Taiwan has any rules regarding foreign civilian vessels that have participated in People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises. Horton referenced a 2022 article by Chinese intelligence expert Rod Lee that
RSS