Taiwan seeing one of worst coral bleaching in years, exacerbated by extreme heat, sunblock

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/12
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Taiwanese company providing diving services has pleaded with people not to put on sunblock with certain chemicals when swimming around Kenting (墾丁), the southernmost tourist attraction in Taiwan known for its sunshine and beaches.

Taiwan Dive Center, which offers underwater diving tours, published information in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Aug. 11) about the severity of coral bleaching the country is experiencing. In addition to inviting people to learn about the ecological woes in a livestream show, it said straightforwardly that customers using its service are “not welcomed” to engage in underwater activities after applying sunblock.

Dylan Chen (陳琦恩), founder of Taiwan Dive Center, said worryingly that Kenting and Lambai Island (小琉球) are seeing the worst coral bleaching events in 13 years. The company is asking its clients to refrain from wearing makeup or sunscreen to reduce the amount of toxic substances released into the waters, wrote CNA.

The concern was shared by a worker at Kenting National Park, who has recorded frequent extremely high temperatures in the waters in southern Taiwan. Last month the waters around Kenting saw temperatures as high as 31 degrees Celsius on the surface and 28 degrees 10 meters underwater, which have made the reefs vulnerable, wrote Liberty Times.
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