In the meantime, however, the Chinese White Dolphin is suffering a great deal. Industrial sewage from factories on the west coast and polluted water from various sources flowing into the sea are directly affecting their health. The government has designated the west coast a developing area; power plants, land reclamation, steel plants, factories and petrochemical zone are all shrinking the dolphins¡¦ habitat. Furthermore the industrial activities are producing low seismic waves, which are harmful to the dolphin¡¦s sensitive hearing organs and can lead to their death. In addition, TaiPower¡¦s plan to set up generating units in the middle of the sea is like another sharp sword cutting up the dolphin¡¦s natural home. In Ms. Yang¡¦s opinion, these development projects are brutal and sanguinary, and will strip the island further of natural resources for future generations.

In fact, although the FormosaCetus Research and Conservation Group has established the ¡¥Save the White Dolphin¡¦ project in collaboration with other groups to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the species, the government¡¦s policy is as yet unchanged. Asked whether all their efforts will be in vain, Ms. Yang answers, ¡¥Oh sure, but if we don¡¦t do anything there is no hope whatsoever¡K¡¦

While in college, Ms. Yang one day passed by a bookstore, and her eye fell on a book in the display window. A huge eye was staring ponderously and Ms. Yang fell in love with it. It was the eye of a whale. She started taking classes on the subject at Taiwan University, then volunteered her services to become a research assistant on the subject of cetacean studies. Her family was appalled when she started sporting a dark tan due to all the outdoor work. After explaining to them what she was doing and how meaningful this work was, their opposition turned into support.

Once, on the way to Kinmen to do research, Ms. Yang spotted dolphins for the first time. She was happy and excited, and immediately bonded with the animal. Then there was also a time when she and fellow reseachers sighted six killer whales in the sea near Hualien. Totally fearless toward humans, they began to flap their tails wildly against the sides of their boat, turning up to show their bellies, and spraying water onto the researchers¡¦ trouser legs. To be surrounded by several animals 6 to 7 times larger than you, and to have this kind of interaction, is a marvellous experience, and it can bring you to tears, says Yang Shih-Chu.

Tears come not only from excitement, however, but rather from woefulness. Shih-Chu Yang once sighted a Risso's dolphin, floating like driftwood on the sea; when she took a closer look, she found that it had no more tail left. It had lost its tail when it slipped into a gill net. Dolphins can accidentally get caught in gill nets and lose any part that comes into contact with the net. Tails or fins are simply cut off, says Yang. The estimated number of cetaceans trapped in gill nets is over 10,000 a year! Fisherman have said jokingly that these nets can stretch from Taidong to Green Island and although this is only a manner of speaking, its showing how commonplace the gill nets are in Taiwan and how serious their threat to cetaceans. As Shih-Chu Yang points out, the way the Taiwanese use their natural resources is as if they stopped time 30 years ago. Their sole interest is in economic growth, and there is no concept of sustainability. The numerous activitities so to speak in the fishing season of the bluefin tuna and the sunfish make it obvious that the Taiwanese still like to eat up all their natural resources. It is therefore necessary, according to Ms. Yang, merely saving the humble dolphin is not enough in terms of conservation. Only if we improve legislation and take care of the environment, she says, will the dolphin have a brighter future.

That plastic bag you throw away or that balloon you deflate, could kill a dolphin! After many years of research, Ms. Yang found that many dolphins die of ¡¥starvation¡¦, by mistaking a floating bag or balloon for a piece of food and swallowing it. They cannot digest the plastic and end up with an empty bag taking up space in their stomach, which finally causes them to starve to death.

Ms. Yang would like to tell our readers that even though you may not be able to join the researchers on their missions, you can still take action and join the conservation movement! For example, you can

¡°Refuse to eat sailfish and sunfish, which are caught using gill nets
¡°Remember never to dispose of plastic bags or balloons except in trash cans;
¡° Try to reduce your use of cleaning detergents, or choose environmentally safe products;
¡°Do more to help save the oceans and its inhabitants
¡°Take real action and tell the world: ¡§I don¡¦t want this to happen on the back of the dolphin!¡¨