Nine sperm whales were spotted off Hualien County on Sunday ahead of their regular migratory season, a local whale watching operator said on Monday.
Turumoan Whale Watching Co deputy general manager Lu Shih-ming (呂世明) said that the whales were seen on Sunday during an outing in waters near the Cingshuei Cliffs (清水斷崖) in Sioulin Township (秀林).
The chance encounter transpired during an excursion led by marine biologist Liao Hung-chi (廖鴻基) with volunteers from the Taiwan Marine Education Center, Lu said.
Photo courtesy of Turumoan Whale Watching Co
The group also saw jumping spinner dolphins, a sizeable pod of Fraser’s dolphins and flying fish, he said.
However, the whales were the stars of the tour, Lu said, adding that they are normally seen in Taiwan’s waters in June and July.
Their early arrival could be due to several factors, including a change in oceanic temperatures, the major earthquake that hit the county on April 3 and food sources concentrated in the area, he said.
“This was a rare experience,” Liao said. “We saw a lot of marine life and collected a lot of valuable audio recordings and data that could be significant for future marine research.”
The outing was a part of a sperm whale research program initiated by the Ilha Formosa Association and supported by the Chen-Yung Foundation and the Ocean Conservation Administration.
The program organizes 10 trips each season to conduct research and document marine biology.
With sperm whales returning ahead of schedule, Lu urged people interested in marine life to visit Hualien, which has seen a decline in tourism since last month’s earthquake devastated parts of the county.
His company has added whale spotting tours this year, with each five-hour trip open to up to 20 people, he said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Passengers aboard Korean Airlines Flight KE189 arrived in Taichung safely yesterday after a scare the previous day encountering uncontrolled decompression, which injured 13 passengers. Flight KE189 departed from Incheon at 4:45pm on Saturday bound for Taichung with 125 passengers on board. The flight was above Jeju Island when a fault in the pressurization system occurred 50 minutes after takeoff. Online flight tracker Flightradar24’s data show that the plane dropped more than 8,000 meters within 15 minutes, before it returned and landed back at Incheon Airport at 19:38pm. Thirteen passengers on board had a headache or earache due to the incident and were hospitalized. A different
China might seek to isolate Taiwan and weaken its economy through a “quarantine,” which would make it difficult for the US to respond and force Taipei to negotiate on unification, CNN reported on Saturday. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) “increasingly bellicose actions” toward Taiwan have heightened concerns that Beijing would use its military against Taiwan, it said, citing a report by think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). However, China might choose to initiate a quarantine, rather than a military invasion of Taiwan, to avoid US involvement, it said. “A quarantine [is] a law enforcement-led operation to control
A new message broadcast on the Taipei MRT’s Wenhu (Brown) Line urging passengers to yield their seats to those in need, not necessarily elderly people, would be extended to other MRT lines and public transportation in the capital, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday. Chiang was responding to reporters’ questions on the sidelines of a news conference at Taipei City Hall promoting healthy walking. Several disputes over priority seats on public transportation have recently been reported, sparking debate about who qualifies to sit in them, as most of the cases involved elderly people asking young people to give up their