Taiwan | Volunteers fight mass whale strandings

(New Taipei) In a suburb of Taipei, volunteers gathered around an inflatable dolphin learn how to rescue stranded cetaceans, an increasingly common phenomenon on Taiwan’s beaches whose causes remain an enigma.

These training courses are provided by the Taiwan Cetacean Society (TCS), an association that helps whales and dolphins that are stranded at a rate of around a hundred each year, a number that has been increasing sharply over the past ten years.

It was after watching a “rather gory video” of a turtle having a plastic straw removed from its nose that Joanna Hung, a 36-year-old saleswoman, decided to take the training.

Tseng Cheng-tsung, secretary general of TCS, said he gradually developed a “sense of commitment” after participating in several rescues, which encouraged him to pursue a master’s degree in marine biology. “Many people want to be closer to nature and protect it,” he said.

Military activities at sea

Until 2016, only a few dozen cetaceans washed ashore in Taiwan each year, but this year the number jumped to 90, said Yang Wei-cheng, a cetacean expert at National Taiwan University.

Yang said the death toll could be attributed to rising ocean surface temperatures and human activities that cause noise and pollution.

But according to Lindsay Porter, vice-chair of the scientific committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the biggest cause of death for cetaceans worldwide remains fishing and accidental capture.

Furthermore, explains M.^me Porter, “the noise level associated with military activities at sea can be particularly high and intense, and can cause death or hearing impairment in cetaceans, as has been demonstrated elsewhere in the world.”

Military activity has increased significantly around Taiwan in recent years, largely as China has stepped up naval, aircraft and drone incursions and conducted live-fire exercises around the island, which it considers part of its territory.

The causes of this increase in strandings remain unclear, admits M^me Porter, who clarifies, however, that this is indeed a real increase, and not an increase in reports.

Another possible culprit: the weather. After the typhoon passed through at the end of July Gaemi15 dolphins, whales and turtles were found stranded in two weeks on the Taiwanese coast. While on average, less than ten stranded animals are counted each month between June and September.

Two days after the typhoon, a dwarf sperm whale was found on the shore of Yilan County in the northeast of the island.

The mammal was still breathing when TCS veterinarians rushed to move it onto a tarp and volunteers sprayed it with water. But it died when construction equipment tried to put it back in the water.

The transport “stressed him a lot, so he held his breath for ten minutes and died,” said Hsiao Shun-ting, the veterinarian who witnessed the scene.

The majority of cetaceans stranded in Taiwan die, either because they are already ill or because of the stress experienced during the rescue attempt.

“People often ask us this question: Is it worth it?” says Mr. Tseng, the marine biologist.

He says every success is an unforgettable memory. Like the day a 400-kilogram, 3.15-meter-long pseudo-orca – also known as a false killer whale – was able to return to the ocean after a nine-day rescue operation that involved more than 600 people and cost the equivalent of 8,280 Canadian dollars.

Mr. Tseng hopes that those who participate in the training will pass on their interest and knowledge about marine animals to their friends and families.

“I think these people will slowly influence those around them… and help marine conservation in Taiwan move forward,” he hopes.