While most people in Taiwan were enjoying a four-day break for the National Day holiday this past weekend, a group of people in the east-coast county of Hualien took the opportunity to clean up the beaches and coastal waters.
The ocean off the coast of Hualien is teeming with beautiful marine life. But the habitat is endangered, as you can see from this fishing net which is hampering the coral’s respiration. Both fish and coral are dying from the pollution. But just this past weekend, a group of people went down to the coastline to help clean things up.
The local Water Resources Agency hosted a cleanup event over the long National Day weekend. People made good use of the holiday by helping clean trash from the ocean and the beach.
The opening of the Port of Hualien has resulted in the loss of coastline, but officials say that anti-erosion efforts are making a difference.
Water Resources Agency Director Hsieh Min-chang says those efforts have helped extend the coastline about 5-10 meters out to the sea.
The agency will continue its work to restore the coastline. They hope the recent event will also help raise public awareness about the importance of caring for our oceans and marine life.