Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
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Photo Credit: 台灣水鳥研究群 彰化海岸保育行動聯盟/Flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
EXPERTS HAVE SOUNDED the alarm that the Taiwanese white dolphin is critically endangered. At present, it is suspected that there may be only between 45 and 50 individuals surviving.
The Taiwanese white dolphin was only documented in 2002 by Canadian researcher John Wang. At that point in time, the species was already critically endangered. It is thought that the number of remaining Taiwanese white dolphins has declined in the past twenty years, however, at a rate of 3% to 4% per year.
The population of the Taiwanese white dolphin was 74 in 2010 and 68 in 2017. 60% of surviving Taiwanese white dolphins have visible injuries.
As it takes the white dolphin five years to produce a new calf, it would take time for the species to recover. At the same time, there are concerns that because of the long lifespan of the Taiwanese white dolphin, the species could eventually reach the point at which reproduction can no longer take place, but there may still be surviving individuals. Much remains unknown about what the Taiwanese white dolphin eats and how it reproduces.
It is thought that the Taiwanese white dolphin prefers to inhabit habitats near river estuaries, limiting their range to shallow water areas. 90% of Taiwanese white dolphins pass through the Port of Taichung. Noise and chemical pollution, then, are a threat to the white dolphin, whether that comes from offshore wind power farms, fisheries, the noise of the port, or the construction of a liquified natural gas terminal in Taichung. It is thought that Taiwanese white dolphins are pushed toward swimming in more dangerous waters because of such development projects. Likewise, it has been observed that Taiwanese white dolphins have been observed swimming faster in order to avoid dangers in the Port of Taichung.
It proves noteworthy that there is relatively little publicity regarding the Taiwanese white dolphin, which might otherwise see large-scale conservation efforts because it is a species endemic to Taiwan. The Taiwanese white dolphin rarely features in government advertising promoting endangered species in Taiwan.
Other endangered species in Taiwan, such as the Taiwan leopard cat, Formosan black bear, and Taiwanese pangolin, are better-known but also endangered. The Taiwan leopard cat is thought to have around 500 surviving individuals. The Formosan black bear is thought to have between 200 and 600 surviving individuals.
Nevertheless, with such endangered species, one routinely sees a similar conflict between conservation and development. County Highway 140 in Miaoli has been a site in which leopard cat fatalities have been frequently discovered, as well as on highways such as Provincial Highway 29 and Provincial Highway 13. Farmers have sometimes pushed back against conservation efforts for the Taiwan leopard cat and Formosan black bear with the view that such animals are pests that threaten wildlife.
To this extent, there has been a consistent pattern in which politicians defend development in order to justify a lack of effort to protect endangered species. Wu Den-yih of the KMT is, for example, nicknamed “General White Dolphin” over his claim that the Taiwanese white dolphin did not need to see special efforts at protection because of its “inherent ability to make U-turns” and, in that way, avoid threats.
Construction of liquified natural gas terminals has become a priority for DPP presidential administrations in the past decade, given that Taiwan’s energy supply would be cut off in the event of a Chinese blockade or invasion. At the same time, such infrastructure proves a threat to local biodiversity, as seen in not only Taichung but also with the construction of a liquified natural gas terminal off the coast of Taoyuan that threatens a 5,000-year-old coral reef. Local residents, too, sometimes see conservation efforts as an impediment to economic development. It will prove a challenge pushing for efforts to allow numbers of the Taiwanese white dolphin to recover, then.