A green sea turtle was found floating in the ocean severely wounded, apparently from injuries inflicted by three metal tags that had been riveted to its shell, National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium officials said.
The Coast Guard Administration’s Southern Coastal Patrol Office, which rescued the turtle on Monday last week, said that the tags had “Family prosperity” inscribed on them and had been intended to bring good luck to the 13 people whose names they bore.
As the tags rubbed against the turtle’s skin, its hind legs had become ulcerated and swollen, veterinarians said, adding that if the coastal patrol had not discovered the turtle it might have developed a bacterial infection and died.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
The patrol office who rescued the turtle said a fishing-boat captain surnamed Pai (白) informed them about the turtle, which had been seen floating in the sea.
The patrol office quickly netted the turtle and put it in a bucket of water, concerned that it might be hit by fishing boats.
Museum veterinarian Lee Tsung-hsien (李宗賢) said the turtle was in a decrepit state when it was discovered, and its excrement contained scraps of plastic bags and was swarming with parasites.
The turtle is being cared for by the museum and is showing stable vital signs, he said, adding that it would be released into the wild after an assessment of its health.
The museum called on people not to release animals in this way, saying it only brings harm, adding that hanging sharp objects on turtles hinders their movement and might kill them.
It added that sea turtles that consume trash might appear to be unaffected but could die suddenly from obstructions to their digestive tract.
People should not attempt to rescue sea turtles and release them; instead, they should call 118 and leave the task to local animal protection agencies, the museum said.
The green sea turtle is classified as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, with a 2004 study published by the organization saying that the annual number of nesting females worldwide had declined by between 48 and 67 percent in the past three generations.
TECH SECTOR: Nvidia Corp also announced its intent to build an overseas headquarters in Taiwan, with Taipei and New Taipei City each attempting to woo the US chipmaker The US-based Super Micro Computer Inc and Taiwan’s Guo Rui on Wednesday announced a joint venture to build a computation center powered only by renewable energy. After meeting with Supermicro founder Charles Liang (梁見後) and Guo Rui chairman Lin Po-wen (林博文), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) instructed a cross-ministry panel to be established to help promote the government’s green energy policies and facilitate efforts to obtain land for the generation of green power, Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said. Cho thanked Liang for his company’s support of the government’s 2019 Action Plan for Welcoming Overseas Taiwanese Businesses to Return to Invest in
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
The lowest temperature in a low-lying area recorded early yesterday morning was in Miaoli County’s Gongguan Township (公館), at 6.8°C, due to a strong cold air mass and the effect of radiative cooling, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. In other areas, Chiayi’s East District (東區) recorded a low of 8.2°C and Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) recorded 8.5°C, CWA data showed. The cold air mass was at its strongest from Saturday night to the early hours of yesterday. It brought temperatures down to 9°C to 11°C in areas across the nation and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties,
A new board game set against the backdrop of armed conflict around Taiwan is to be released next month, amid renewed threats from Beijing, inviting players to participate in an imaginary Chinese invasion 20 years from now. China has ramped up military activity close to Taiwan in the past few years, including massing naval forces around the nation. The game, titled 2045, tasks players with navigating the troubles of war using colorful action cards and role-playing as characters involved in operations 10 days before a fictional Chinese invasion of Taiwan. That includes members of the armed forces, Chinese sleeper agents and pro-China politicians
RSS