Conservationists rush to rescue 11 beached whales in Pingtung

Conservationists rush to rescue 11 beached whales in Pingtung

2026-02-24

The residents of Checheng in Pingtung woke up to a sad scene on Tuesday morning. Eleven pygmy killer whales got stranded at the beach, prompting a race against time to save them. Volunteers rushed to the beach to keep the animals wet and upright, while experts checked their vitals and scanned them for injuries. Depending on their health condition, they’ll be taken back to sea as quickly as possible, or to a facility so they can recover from any injuries.

Volunteers cover a stranded pygmy killer whale with towels and douse it with water to keep it wet as they try to soothe the stranded animal. It is weak after running ashore on the beach, but the saddest part is, it’s not alone.

This short stretch of the coast is dotted with black blobs. Each of them is a stranded whale. This is the beach next to the Haikou Harbor in Pingtung’s Checheng Township. Fishermen reported seeing a large pod approaching the shore in the early morning on Tuesday. Eleven of the whales ended up stranded. By the time rescuers arrived, four had perished.

Pan Fang-chuan
Pingtung County Councilor (DPP)
Local fishermen discovered the whales coming ashore and reported it.

Tu Chan-lung
Coast Guard Administration
Efforts are underway to rescue the seven whales that are still alive, and we’ve cordoned off the area.

The area has been cordoned off in response to the mass stranding event. Coast guard officers and experts have rushed to the area to help. They conducted medical checks on the whales, and ensured that they stayed upright on the shore, to not injure their pectoral fins.

Pan Fang-chuan
Pingtung County Councilor (DPP)
When I was little, there would often be strandings, more than now. There were times when there were 20 or 30 whales. There aren’t as many nowadays.

A local councilor says strandings used to be more commonplace in the past. Pygmy killer whales are social animals, and it is thought that they were being given chase by a bigger predator. It’s also possible that the leader of the pack simply got lost, causing them to end up on the beach. So what should you do if you discover a shored cetacean?

Hsu Hsiang-jung
Ocean Conservation Administration
You should hold them upright, and keep them wet. Then, experts take their heart rate and breathing.

Wang Hao-wen
NCKU Cetacean Research Center
If they are in good health, we try to release them on the spot. But if they are injured, we bring them in to a rescue site.

Everyone is helping out to return the beached whales back to their home in the sea.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#whale #beaching #stranding #pygmykillerwhale #marinelife

集氣! 屏東車城11隻小虎鯨集體擱淺 4死7搶救中

2026-02-24

屏東車城一大早有漁民發現，有高達11隻的小虎鯨在沙灘集體擱淺，緊急通報相關單位來救援，現場志工也幫忙協助這些小虎鯨保濕、並扶正他們的身體避免受傷，要等候專家趕來確認他們身體狀況，但不幸的是，11隻小虎鯨中，有4隻，因為身體虛弱已經沒了生命跡象。

志工在小虎鯨的身上蓋上毛巾，不斷地潑水，希望幫助牠們保濕，還得安撫著小虎鯨，就看到它在岸邊看起來十分虛弱，而且岸邊不只一隻虎鯨。

鏡頭拉遠，短短數十公尺的海岸線，一點一點黑色的，全都是擱淺的小虎鯨，屏東車城海口港旁邊的沙灘，週二一大早，漁民發現有大量虎鯨不斷往岸邊衝，結果導致11隻虎鯨擱淺，其中4隻更因為身體虛弱，救援人員趕到時，已經失去生命跡象。

[[屏東縣議員(民) 潘芳泉]]
“當地的漁民發現，海上有一群鯨魚正往岸上衝，然後他就去報案了。”

[[海巡署第六岸巡隊主任涂展龍]]
“目前針對生還7隻小虎鯨，進行搶救及實施警戒管制。”

緊急啟動大量傷患救援機制，現場拉起封鎖線，不只附近的岸巡隊總動員，還有專家從外地趕來支援，要替這群擱淺的小虎鯨做檢查，大家費盡力氣，先幫虎鯨扶正，就怕他們的胸鰭受傷。

[[屏東縣議員潘芳泉]]
“小時候的話，常常也有一些鯨豚（擱淺），比現在還多，有時候的話二、三十隻都有。這幾年數量不多了。”

在地老議員就說，以前甚至還有更多隻擱淺的狀況發生，近年來比較少見，因為虎鯨是群聚性動物，懷疑是遭到更大型魚類追逐、或者受到驚嚇，甚至是領頭鯨出現迷航都有可能導致集體擱淺，但海洋保育署也提醒大家，遇到這種狀況，保持三要四不原則。

[[海保署屏東站長許向戎]]
“要扶正、然後保濕，我們現場有專業人員量測心跳，還有呼吸的狀況。”

[[成大鯨豚研究中心主任王浩文]]
“如果說還算健康的個體，我們會嘗試做現場釋回的處理，比較嚴重的個體，我們就會把它拉回救援場域。”

大家一起幫忙，要讓這群小虎鯨還能健康回到大海悠游。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週一至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Now there’s a noodle shop in Kaohsiung’s Lingya District that doesn’t need a single employee. From cooking to serving, a robot takes care of the entire order, whether it’s beef noodles or pork noodles. The owner said he got the idea because the labor shortage has made hiring difficult.

A robotic arm places down a bowl of piping hot noodles, ready for pickup.

The milky white pork broth looks like it’s been simmering for hours. Another bowl of beef noodles comes with big chunks of meat. Would you believe it was all made by a robot?

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Every bowl is prepared fresh. The flour is kneaded into dough, then cut into strips and immediately cooked into a bowl of hot noodles.

Newly opened, this automated noodle shop in Kaohsiung’s Lingya District doesn’t need any staff at all. A robot takes care of cooking and serving all seven items on the menu. Customers first order from a kiosk, then wait for the robot to make their order. Vegetables are self-service, as are the pickles and spicy radish. If you don’t feel like noodles, the restaurant also has dumplings and braised food that you can microwave yourself.

Wang Chun-hua
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Because of the increasingly severe labor shortage, it’s getting harder and harder to hire staff, which impacts service quality. That’s what inspired us to develop this AI noodle-making system.

As hiring becomes more difficult, restaurants have to adapt to survive. Like this one, some are turning to robots. Automation might be all the rage right now, but traditional restaurants aren’t worried about losing business.

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He has his clientele and we have ours. We have a human touch. We make it ourselves and can chat with customers.

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Of course traditional shops have a human touch. You can interact with people and chat.

These chefs might not be worried, but others are. Now that robots can cook, there might be even fewer jobs available in the future.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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69-yo restaurant employee found dead in walk-in freezer

The owner of a well-known restaurant in Taipei’s Wenshan District was left in horror on Tuesday, when she opened up shop for the first time after the Lunar New Year break. While fetching ingredients from the walk-in freezer, she found the body of a 69-year-old employee inside. The police worked out that the employee had locked herself inside the freezer on Monday night. Because she was only found 12 hours later, she had long passed away from hypothermia.

Soon after lunchtime, the restaurant pulls down its security shutter.

Eyewitness
Wenshan District, Taipei
There was an ambulance and a fire truck. The police also entered the alleyways, probably to do a quick inspection. It seemed pretty serious.

Shopkeepers nearby are in chatters over what transpired. It’s only the second business day after the Lunar New Year break, but a great number of police officers and medics had gathered around the front and backdoor of the restaurant.

Eyewitness
Wenshan District, Taipei
An employee was found in the walk-in freezer, to which the door was locked and couldn’t be opened. They probably wanted to save her, but by then she’d already passed away. It was already too late.

The restaurant is located in Taipei’s Wenshan District, a well-known, 40-year-old establishment. According to the police, the woman trapped in the walk-in freezer was an employee.

Ma Sheng-chieh
FTV reporter
The large walk-in freezer is right by the kitchen at the restaurant’s backdoor. The owner was about to prep for the day, but couldn’t get the freezer’s door to open. She later broke in, and was shocked to find her employee’s body inside.

The employee was a 69-year-old woman surnamed Liu. She had been with the restaurant for more than 20 years. The restaurant was not open on Monday. At 11 p.m. that day, she told her family members that she was going out to meet friends, but actually headed to the restaurant alone. She then went into the walk-in freezer, which is set at -10°C and has enough room for three to four people. Once inside, she locked the door. Strangely, the door actually has an emergency lock-breaking mechanism that can be activated from the interior. The woman also had her phone with her, but she did not reach out for help in the 12 hours she was inside the freezer and there weren’t any traces that suggest she may have tried to escape. She died from hypothermia, and her body was found by the restaurant owner the very next day.

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She was exposed to a temperature of -10°C, so she wouldn’t have lasted more than four hours or perhaps not even two. One is prone to dehydration in freezing temperatures. You would lose consciousness quickly and wouldn’t be able to save yourself.

The police ruled out the possibility of murder. They also found that the deceased had large debts, and are determining whether she may have intentionally taken her own life.

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Prank caller arrested for false Taipei MRT killing threat

Commuters in Taipei were in for a fright on the first working day after the Lunar New Year break: someone called Taipei Metro and threatened to kill passengers in a specific train car between Nanjing Sanmin and Songshan Stations on the Green Line during the evening rush hour. Fortunately, the threat turned out to be a hoax, and the person who made it, a 35-year-old man from Kaohsiung, was subsequently arrested for threatening public safety. Turns out, the man, surnamed Cheng, had a history of making prank calls to public services. More chillingly, the threat was made as Taipei was still recovering from the attacks in December last year.

Fully armed Police officers are deployed to Songshan Station on the Taipei MRT. They charge ahead, sparing no time and effort to respond to a killing threat.

On the platform, officers are urging passengers not to enter. They remain on high alert, until they’re sure that the threat was entirely a hoax.

Witness
Taipei MRT Songshan Station
I’m here to pick up my granddaughter. I had no idea. There were so many police officers, so I left. I’m worried about the kid. The Zhongshan Station attack is still very fresh.

Passengers were in for a fright with so many officers inside the MRT station. After investigating, the police determined the threat to be false. The prank caller was a 35-year-old man in Kaohsiung surnamed Cheng. He’d threatened to kill passengers on a train car between Nanjing Sanmin and Songshan stations.

Ma Sheng-chieh
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The man in question made the threat via an AI customer service on the MRT app. He also specified the train car where he’s supposedly carrying out his threat. It’s not the first time he’s tricked public services this way.

Just last month, he submitted a false report with the Taipei MRT in the same way. Back then, he claimed that there was a fire in a train car on the Brown Line. The police had summoned him for questioning afterwards, but he didn’t show up. In July last year, he also threatened attacks at the Kaohsiung High Speed Rail station.

Chen Chih-feng
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Memories of the Taipei attacks in December last year remain fresh and the public is still on high alert. So even though the killing did not take place, it still rattled commuters.

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Tainan deploys humanoid robot to assist residents at city hall

The Tainan City Government has a new employee you can’t miss. Nicknamed “Little White,” service robot No. 0001 will come to life when you say hello to him. He paces the first floor of the city hall ready to help, drawing crowds of onlookers taking photos and eager to interact.

At clock-in time, Little White automatically boots up and rolls away from its charging area to the first stop of the day.

- Hello Little White. Which floor is the press office on?

Just say “Hello Little White” and this little robotic employee will give its full attention. But aside from answers about city services, it doesn’t have too much to say.

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Even when asked some lighthearted questions, Little White is quite the conversationalist.

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The robot’s adorably dorky responses have won over quite a few fans. Kids especially love to gather around and cheer him on. At the moment, the robot is mostly responsible for giving directions from the first floor about the location of offices in the building.

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This fishmonger stays busy preparing his wares, but when he sees a foreign traveler walk by, he springs to life.

No sooner had he finished listening to his wife’s impromptu English lesson than he promptly forgot how to say “have a drink.” He even has trouble saying “sugar.” His introduction is even sillier.

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Kao Chen-chieh
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When we were young, everyone was into styling their hair, but we had no clue how to do it. Even if you did manage to style it, it would be ruined by wearing a helmet. So I figured, if I just keep it like this, when I take my helmet on and off, it’ll stay neat.

Wu Ching-hui
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He loves chatting and is super friendly. Especially when there’s a foreigner, he’ll always greet them and offer something to eat. It’s pretty local.

Su Chen-hsi
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It doesn’t matter if they’re from the US, Japan, or wherever, he just loves to chat. He’ll go on and on. I really admire how outgoing he is.

Kao isn’t the only personality hidden in this market. Just across the way is a retiree who looks just like the Hong Kong actor Sammo Hung.

Liu Kuo-tung
Market vendor
I’m the Sammo Hung lookalike in this market, and he’s the Chu Ke-liang!

Founded during the Japanese era, this seafood stall has been passed down through the generations in Kao’s family. It was a no-brainer that he would take over when he finished his military service. He might be Taiwan born and bred, but his spirit is as international as they come!

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