Green sea turtle spotted in Nan’ao beach in Yilan for first time
Green sea turtle spotted in Nan’ao beach in Yilan for first time
2023-07-14
A conservationist walking along a beach in Yilan’s Nan’ao Township recently got quite a surprise, after spotting a green sea turtle on the shore. A team of experts will be dispatched to the area next week to check whether the turtle had laid any eggs in the sand. An honorary professor at National Taiwan Ocean University who’s been studying turtles since 1992 says he’s never seen the species north of the Tropic of Cancer, which is more than a hundred kilometers south of Yilan.
Hu Tse-wen
Conservationist
I was very excited when I saw the turtle. I recorded the sighting and we tried to keep it protected. Then we went back as fast as we could. We were afraid that the file would have errors, so we uploaded it on a computer as soon as possible. Of course we went to search for it the next day, but we weren’t clear on what to look for. I tried getting in touch with an expert, and in the end a friend introduced me to a scholar. He said he’d come and talk to us soon about what to do when we see turtles in the future.
In the footage captured by the conservationist, a green sea turtle can be seen slowly crawling back into the sea. Experts speculate that several factors may have prompted the turtle to visit the beach. One of them is the recent ban on motor vehicles on the beach, which has reduced human presence in the area. Another is the impact of climate change, which could be causing turtles to expand their habitat northward.
南澳神秘沙灘首見綠蠵龜上岸 專家勘查有無卵窩
2023-07-14
宜蘭縣南澳鄉的神秘沙灘日前發現海龜上岸，經證實是綠蠵龜。國立台灣海洋大學榮譽教授程一駿說，他從1992年研究海龜至今，未曾見過海龜在北回歸線以北上岸，這是重要的新發現。下周研究團隊也將回到現場檢查是否有卵窩，進一步了解海龜的活動情形。
[[台灣偏鄉生態物種保護協會秘書長 胡澤文]]
“那天看到海龜其實很興奮，除了紀錄之後，我們就保護牠下去，之後我們就趕快回去，想說怕那個檔案出問題，趕快把它傳到電腦，當然隔天我們有去找，但是就不是很清楚該找什麼，趕快試著聯絡專家，後來就是有請朋友介紹到應該是一位老師，他說最近會來跟我們講說，以後看到海龜要怎麼處理”
畫面中可以看到，神秘沙灘上，一隻綠蠵龜正緩緩地爬回大海。由於南澳的神祕沙灘曾發生意外，今年立法禁止沙灘車進入，減少許多人為活動。或許是受到氣候變遷影響，加上當地環境穩定，才造成海龜北移，擴大棲地。
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