Exciting Observations of Numerous Green Turtles Foraging in Coastal Waters of Liuqiu Island, Taiwan By Connie Ka-yan NG1 and George H. Balazs2

1kayan.ng.connie@gmail.com / kayng64@student.cityu.edu.hk

PhD student of City University of Hong Kong. 2itsahonuworldinhawaii@hotmail.com

Pacific Islands Regional Vice Chair, IUCN SSC Marine Turtle Specialist Group. January 2013

In October 2011 we attended a sea turtle stranding workshop in Taiwan. After this

informative and enjoyable meeting of turtle specialists, our colleague Prof. I-Jiunn

Cheng kindly invited several of us to visit Liuqiu Island (Latitude 22° 20’ 19.12’’N,

Longitude 120°22’11.34’’E) (in Chinese �ĈĆ) of Pingtung County in Taiwan (See

maps 1-3 attached). A 20-minute ferry boat ride 15km off the west coast of Taiwan,

the island is only 6.8 km² with coral and rock fringing reefs, clear water, several sandy

beaches and three boat harbors. With a human population of about 12,000, local

residents make their living primarily by distant-water fishing and tourism from

Taiwan. The island is famous for its rich Tao and Buddhist temple culture.

In November 2012 we returned to the Liuqiu Island again for cultural respect for the

Liuqiu Wangye Worshipping Ceremony (Ūă�uĞ.) only held every 3 years. For

several days a large beautifully constructed replica of a boat is transported for worship

by hand around the island along with the Palanquin of Wangye. Using tons of ‘paper

money’ the boat is then set on fire on the beach and entirely burned to ashes.

Two of our friends, local conservationists Tien and Sophia at the Ocean Blue Hostel

led us to the cliff at the spot “Camping Area”, in the north of Liuqiu Island, to observe

foraging green turtles in the late afternoon on 8 November 2012. During the

observation from the cliff, seven green turtles were found foraging on the algal mats

grown on the limestone in the shallow waters of approximately 1 metre deep. Among

the seven turtles, four were adults including 2 females and 2 males, while the other

three were juvenile green turtles, which seemingly positioned themselves in deeper

water farther away from the shore.

In the afternoon (2-4pm) on 9 November 2012, we snorkeled a short segment of the

coastal waters of the island with the local conservationists Tien and Jian-wei. The

journey started from “Beauty Cave” ending at “Vase Rock”, north of the Island,

spanning for some 800m to 1km in total distance. During the snorkelling trip, an

amazing 40 or more green turtles were observed vigorously foraging on algal mats

that abundantly thrived on limestone flat rocks in shallow waters extending seaward

from the cliffs. These turtles ranged from 30cm to over 100cm in carapace length,

with over 50% being post-pelagic juveniles to juveniles while all others were nearly

mature adults. These foraging green turtles were good in body shape and healthy

during the underwater observations. They were generally tolerant to our presence at

an approximate distance of 5 metres. One turtle had a fishing line entangled at the

base of its left forelimb. Efforts to rescue it for disentanglement were unsuccessful. Of

interesting note is that we encountered a large female green turtle with a blue plastic

tag attached at the midway of its right forelimb. The tag was overgrown with algae so

any inscriptions on the tag could not be obtained. The same turtle has been observed

residing in the area for at least three years, as advised by the local conservationists.

We are sincerely thankful for the hospitality and friendship of Tien, Sophia and

Jian-wei, and all the other wonderful people met at Liuqiu.

Except in the Hawaiian Islands we have never seen so many green turtles foraging in

such a short length of coastline. We plan to visit Liuqiu Island again soon to snorkel,

enjoy, and learn about green turtles feeding at other coastal locations. The following

images, some kindly provided by Tien, Sophia and Jian-wen, give views of the

wonderful experiences we had at Liuqiu involving green turtles, local people, and

their rich culture.

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1kayan.ng.connie@gmail.com / kayng64@student.cityu.edu.hk

Ɩëa�mt DhęġĎ 2itsahonuworldinhawaii@hotmail.com

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Map 1 showing the location of Liuqiu Island, Taiwan^\ƓĜMô�ĈĆ�Ĕ�ij (Source !í: SEATURTLE ORG Maptool. SEATURTLE.ORG, Inc. http://www.seaturtle.org/maptool/)

Map 2 showing the location of Liuqiu Island, TaiwanMô�ĈĆ�Ĕ�ij (Source!í: Google Map)

Map 3 showing the scenic spots of Liuqiu Island, TaiwanMô�ĈĆ�ĔƔÃR=A(Source!í: http://liuqiu.pthg.gov.tw/liuqiu/web_en.php?prog=travel)

Picture 1. Palanquin of Wangye carried by the locals on Liuqiu Island

\1. ���Ø®ņăÿĔĝŨČ�űʼn

Picture 2. George H. BALAZS and Connie Ka-yan NG with the Wangye boat \2. �Ü�ÑîG�x¤ĽăÿĿPú

Picture 3. Local people carried the Wangye boat around Liuqiu

\3. ���Ø®ņăÿĿČ�űʼn

Picture 4. George H. BALAZS and Connie Ka-yan NG followed the parade \4. �Ü�ÑîG�x¤ŤƆƅ�Č�űʼn

Picture 5. George H. BALAZS carried the Wangye boat with the locals

\5. �Ü�ÑîŤƆ���Ø®ăÿĿ

Picture 6. Wangye boat stationed in one of the local temples \6. ăÿĿ'·¾Ē^-��ſ~� “Ěƌ~”

Picture 7. Burning of the Wangye boat with paper money

\7. õüăÿĿGħ�

Picture 8. Burning of the Wangye boat with paper money

\8. õüăÿĿGħ�

Picture 9. Burning of the Wangye boat with paper money

\9. õüăÿĿGħ�

Picture 10. Camping Area, north of Liuqiu Island \10. �ĈĆ@ŹĔÃƜ�ƍýA�

Picture 11. Two foraging green turtles in coastal waters of Camping Area

\11. ¾�ƍýA�çÙÙbŐƕĔ+ƇĬåƝ

Picture 12. Sophia, Ka-yan and Tien (from left to right) at Camping Area

\12. Ǝ)�x¤GƁè(Đ�ļN)]�ƍýA�

Picture 13. George, Tien and Ka-yan at “Beauty Cave”, start of the snorkeling trip \13. �Ü�ƁèTx¤]�Ĵ�á�0ēäñ

Picture 14. George, Tien and Ka-yan at “Beauty Cave”, start of the snorkeling trip \14. �Ü�ƁèTx¤]�Ĵ�á�0ēäñ

Picture 15. George when snorkeling \15. äñ�Ĕ�Ü

Picture 16. George closely observed the spot on the algal mat where the turtle foraged \16.�Üz2Œ|ĬåƝG-ůƕĔåň

Picture 17. George when snorkeling \17. äñ�Ĕ�Ü

Picture 18. George picked up some algae fed by green turtles when snorkeling \18. �Ü]äñ²ĬåƝůƕĔåň

Picture 19. Foraging green turtles \19. Őƕ�ĔĬåƝ

Picture 20. Connie Ka-yan when snorkeling \20. äñ�Ĕx¤

Picture 21. Ka-yan, Tien and George (from left to right) when snorkeling \21. äñ�Ĕx¤�ƁèT�Ü (Đ�ļN)

Picture 22. A blue plastic tag, with algae overgrown, on the right forelimb of a large female green turtle \22. Ɖ£ĬåƝN4ĹƂÈ�$žïňƑĔŇŁe¼Òģ

Picture 23. George, Ka-yan and Tien (from left to right) at Vase Rock, end of the snorkeling trip \23. �Ü�x¤TƁè (Đ�ļN) ]łčĘơäñ[ïĪÌ

Picture 24. Jian-wen, George and Ka-yan (from left to right) at Vase Rock, end of the snorkeling trip \24. �&��ÜTx¤ (Đ�ļN) ]łčĘơäñ[ïĪÌ

Picture 25. Amazingly beautiful sunset and a group of teenage girls on Liuqiu Island \25. �ĵ�p¾�ĈĆ�ŷÔŠĊċĔÀŅ