Xiaoliuqiu, Sea Turtles, and Us

Brimming with excitement, I wildly signaled my sister towards the creature below us. Beyond my scuba mask, a Jurassic marine reptile glided in the distance like a bird in the sky – a green sea turtle. As I moved closer, I saw that its right flipper was tightly entangled by a fishing line, cutting deep into its flesh. My heart sunk with sadness and confusion: sadness from witnessing an innocent creature in pain; and confusion from the realization that we humans were the culprits. Despite knowing little about marine biology or environmental science, I spent the rest of my vacation on Xiaoliuqiu island conferring with scuba coaches and seeking hints of conservation... that's when my journey started!

From January 2021 onward, I began immersing myself in sea turtle conservation, beginning with my biology podcast, and slowly connecting with experts on the field. This Story Map is the cumulation of my experiences and observations spiced with knowledge from experts I met along the way. I hope you enjoy!

Seven different species of sea turtles grace our ocean waters. From the shallow seagrass beds of the Indian Ocean to the colorful reefs of the Coral Triangle and the sandy beaches of the Eastern Pacific, sea turtles can be found in all oceans except the polar regions. In fact, these huge marine reptiles undertake multiyear, epic migrations at sea. Every few years, they return to the exact spot where they were born to mate and lay their own eggs.

For more than 100 million years, sea turtles are vital in maintaining the health of the world’s oceans. As “keystone species”, sea turtles prevent jellyfish, seagrass, and sponges from overpopulating the ocean and challenging the health of the coral. On the not-so-pleasant end, sea turtle eggs and hatchlings on the beaches provide valuable nutrients to coastal vegetation, as well as birds, raccoons, and fish.

Long Path Home

My first mentor in my journey to learn more about these creatures was Mr. Sea, our tour guide and the leading conservationist in Xiaoliuqiu. He began by explaining to me the behavior of sea turtles.

Back at home, I browsed through the gallery of my GoPro, now filled with interview audio clips and NGO QR codes from the info center. I began deciphering my compiled clips, scouring online forms – searching for answers. What significance do the sea turtles bring other than tourism? How woeful should we be of marine degradation? How can we make sure humans and sea turtles coexist? The crystallization of my inquires became the first episodes of my podcast, which will appear later on.

In each of the following sections, I combined my Xiaoliuqiu experiences with my fellow sea turtle peers to paint a comprehensive picture of sea turtles in Xiaoliuqiu and Taiwan.

While sea turtles are imperative to biodiversity, I was staggered to discover their deep history in Taiwanese culture. Listed below are a few notable examples of sea turtles' impact in local cultures.

So how did Xiaoliuqiu become a 'Sea Turtle Paradise' tourist conglomerate?

In the 1980s, the Taiwanese government promoted the “One town one harbor” policy to stimulate the fishing industry, which turned out to be a complete failure. The plan proved to be too costly for cities to build and maintain, while the harbors themselves were mostly too shallow during the low tides for ships to dock. Islands such as Penghu and Xiaoliuqiu saw their sea turtle beaches destroyed for futile results. It is why Taiwan’s coasts still are littered with breakwaters and abandoned harbors.

Due to this policy, in Xiaoliuqiu, both the Baishawei Harbor [red] and Yufu Harbor [orange] replaced a large area of the beautiful Zhongao beach. (See if you can notice the shrinkage of the coast!)

Other ports built after 1985 include the Dafu Ferryboat Wharf [green] for shipment, and Shanfu Harbor [blue] for fishing.

These harbors are still in use, but have largely decreased in importance. For example, the Shanfu Harbor is now chiefly known as a scuba diving hotspot.

Fishing continued to dominate the island’s economy up until a decade ago. It was only until recently that fishing restrictions and protected areas were established to protect marine creatures. Meanwhile, the island is slowly transitioning to tourism after locals realized the diverse marine habitat residing in the ocean. With tourism comes hotels, people, and the rise of underwater activities, specifically snorkeling and scuba diving.

According to many coaches and inlanders I've interviewed, the scuba industry really gained steam in the past 4 to 5 years. As a result, tourist numbers continue rising. It hit its peak for both the summers of 2020 and 2021 as a result of “revenge tourism”. Revenge tourism is a phrase that originated in the 1980s when China saw an explosion in consumer spending after lifting travel restrictions for a long period of time. Now, it is used to describe the amplified domestic travels resulting from the Covid lockdown.

In Taiwan’s instance, the restrictions on travel have prompted citizens to travel south and most notably, the outer islands like Xiaoliuqiu. Just last summer, the total tourist population was roughly 57,000 people, which was five times the residential population in Xiaoliuqiu.

The result of overpopulating the island is, of course, marine pollution. Traces of littering and pollution from hotels can be seen from the beaches, which could drive away turtles from living and hatching in Xiaoliuqiu.

Although I now have a more in-depth understanding of the problem's surrounding Xiaoliuqiu, seeing the damage of tourism in particular has caused me to reflect on my status as a tourist. It's inevitable that I'll pollute the environment every time I travel to Xiaoliuqiu or scuba dive – the waste water of hotels, the trash I create, the disturbance of entering the marine habitat etc. – which raises the question: am I contributing to the problem despite my good intentions? Are there actually any solutions to these issues? Thankfully, the next step in my journey showed me a direction I can take: conservation.

Fresh off my scuba trip and research, I attended a lecture by the 'TurtleSpot club' I saw on social media. Thinking it was merely a workshop on sea turtle education, I was shocked to discover that the lecture gave me so much more...

The TurtleSpot club was initiated in June 2017 by researchers and enthusiasts who love sea turtles. It calls on divers to report back images of sea turtles to identify different individuals of sea turtles and establish a ID for each, in hopes of establishing Taiwan's first "Sea Turtle Household Register". Since every sea turtle has a different face scale pattern, they can be differentiated by A.I. facial recognition software.

Thanks to the efforts of the scuba community, 380 Xiaoliuqiu turtles (and 442 in Taiwan) have been identified and named. TurtleSpot completely flipped around my idea that scuba diving was a self-indulgent activity. In fact, it can have a real impact for the marine environment.

While I was engaged in TurtleSpot, I didn't forget the NGO QR codes I've gathered from the New Year trip. Turns out, the NGO was Loo-Koo Yu Organization (社團法人台灣咾咕嶼協會). Loo-Koo Yu is the chief proponent of conservation on Xiaoliuqiu. In the past four years, the NGO has launched numerous events, speeches, and services with the aim of reducing plastic in Xiaoliuqiu. Its two most major services are the Liuqiu Cup (琉行杯) and Gugu Coins (咕咕幣) programs, one is a free recyclable cup lending system, the other is a coin-exchange system for recyclable bowls. In 2018, 5,000 of their cups were lent and returned during the summer months. Meanwhile, about 100 recyclable bowls are in circulation around the island constantly.

In March, I got into contact with and successfully interviewed one of its founders, Ms. Zhang. We discussed her motivation to save the ocean, where the NGO's creativity originates, and the NGO’s future aspirations. In particular, she told me how seeing her restaurant’s takeout container on the beach became her motivation to create change. Her passion and creativity showed me that, in the future, I could contribute to marine conservation in unconventional ways.

Although it is in our interest to conserve and protect the environment, it’s impossible to learn to live with every bird, insect, plant, spider, fish, etc. I believe in starting small. For me, that meant simply respecting and spreading awareness of the first “star species” that is closest to me and has the most impact in my region: sea turtles. I believe the key to conservation is through these "star species" because these are the animals we can empathize with. Once we achieve that, we can slowly but surely move towards a world where we protect more than our “star species” and try to coincide with other life. Ultimately, my belief is that we are all merely lifeforms who decided to spend our evolution points on different attribute trees, which means that we are all equals on this planet. I yearn to live in a world where humans and animals can coexist.

While writing this reflection, I slowly realized that this journey not only integrated fields from geography, but also environmental science, wildlife conservation, communication, and data science. And through the mixture of all this, I feel like I am one step closer to reducing environmental degradation. I’ve been told many times in my journey that I’m too young to grasp the issue at hand, but this journey has taught me there are always ways to make a difference, and that there is so much yet to learn and think about. I relish the once-in-a-lifetime relationships I would’ve never gained had I not pursued them. I enjoyed considering the nuances of composing professional emails and pitching my ideas. I learned the value of doing something because I truly wanted my actions to create change – a future where that sea turtle I met in January can safely spread its wings and fly again.

I'd like to thank you every one of my mentors for accompanying me through this period of discovery. My gratitude extends to Amber Fong and Daphne Hoh from TurtleSpot for gifting my their valuable data, photos from their platform, and always giving me suggestions for this Story Map. I am incredibly thankful for the NGO founders, such as Ms. Zhang from Loo-Koo Yu, my first guide Mr. Sea, and dozens of scuba coaches who shared with me their stories, tips, and wisdom during interviews. And lastly, I'd like to thank my family for giving me the opportunity to let me do cool things in life. Cheers!