Penghu Sea Turtles & Forever Chemicals

News Bites

Hey, you guys. It’s time for another episode of New Bites. I’m Jacob Ingram. And I’m Nancy Sun. In today's news: Penghu releases sea turtles, and outdoor clothing brands using harmful chemicals. And for today’s Tasty Tidbit, is there a way to breathe without lungs? Stay tuned for more on those stories, coming up next. ________________________________ 澎湖野放13隻海龜 Penghu releases 13 sea turtles June 16th is World Sea Turtle Day (世界海龜日). This year, Penghu officials released 13 sea turtles into the sea to mark the special date. Over the years, Taiwan has been striving (致力於) to protect sea turtles. A tiny island called Xiaoliuqiu (小琉球) is well-known for being a protected sea turtle habitat (棲息地). Millions of tourists and divers visit the tiny island every year to swim with these graceful (優雅的) creatures. Penghu is also renowned (著名的) for the protection of sea turtles. There are a total of seven species of sea turtles in the world, five of which can be found in Penghu. So Penghu is vital (非常重要的) to the future survival of sea turtles. Now, back to those 13 sea turtles which Penghu officials released: 12 of them were green sea turtles (綠蠵龜), the other an olive ridley sea turtle (欖蠵龜). Some of the green sea turtles were rescued when they were just hatchlings (剛孵化的小動物). Rescuers thought the hatchlings were too weak to survive on their own out in the ocean. The others were rescued because they were injured. The Penghu Sea Turtle Conservation and Rescue Center (澎湖海龜收容救護中心) nursed the rescued sea turtles back to health. 這個中心細心照料把救回來的海龜，讓牠們恢復健康。 Researchers (研究員) attached a transmitter (發射器) to one of the sea turtles. This is the first time they did this in Taiwan. They want to track and study it for a whole year. Another important place for the protecting sea turtles is Wang-an island (望安島) in Penghu County. The island has a Green Turtle Nesting Refuge. 這個島上有綠蠵龜棲息產卵保育區。 Scientists say this is the most stable (穩定的) area for sea turtles to lay their eggs. There are five turtle egg laying locations around Taiwan. These are Wang-an, Lanyu, Xiaoliuqiu, Dongsha and Nansha island. This year, there have been reports of turtles laying eggs on the beach. 專家學者們會致力於打造更安全的海龜生態。 ________________________________ 戶外衣物品牌仍然在使用“永久化學品” Outdoor Clothing Brand Still Using ‘Forever Chemicals’ Despite Health Risk Do you like outdoor activities? Many people like to be close to nature. They like to breathe the fresh air and enjoy the views of sunlight on clear water. Some popular outdoor activities include hiking (遠足) and mountain climbing (爬山). However, hikers and mountain climbers might be harming the environment. A magazine called “Ethical Consumer” recently examined some companies which make outdoor clothing. 一本名叫《道德消費者》的雜誌最近審查了一些製造戶外服裝的公司。 What they found was shocking. 82% of the companies were still using chemicals called PFAS. Companies use this type of chemical to make fabrics (布料) water resistant (防水). The problem is PFAS are “forever chemicals (永久性的化學品).” This means they can take hundreds of years to degrade (分解). So they pollute soil and water. The chemicals also cause health problems for people. For example, high cholesterol (膽固醇), which lots of fat (脂肪) in blood and cells (細胞). It also causes cancer (癌症), makes it harder for people to fight off colds (感冒) and infections (感染), and makes it harder for people to have children. So hikers who wear clothes that have these chemicals might be risking their own health. The magazine advises (建議) everyone to only buy clothes from companies that don’t use these nasty chemicals. Experts (專家) said PFAS have been found in rivers, and even on the slopes (山坡) of Mount Everest (珠穆朗瑪峰)! It’s also been found inside some wild animals. In Europe alone, there are at least 23,000 sites polluted by PFAS. 2,000 of them have high concentrations (高濃度). They are currently few outdoor clothing companies don’t use PFAS in their products (產品). Some of these companies even persuaded (說服) their fabric factories (工廠) to not use the harmful chemicals. European officials are trying to restrict (限制) PFAS chemicals in Europe. They hope to achieve this in the year 2026. Currently, lots of countries are discussing how to restrict these chemicals, not just those in Europe. 目前，許多國家都在討論對“永久化學品” 的使用限制。 To protect our planet, we must act now! ________________________________ So, in today's News Bites: Penghu officials released 13 sea turtles back into the ocean. Taiwan cares a lot about sea turtles. Xiaoliuqiu Island is famous for protecting them. Penghu is especially important because five out of the world's seven sea turtle species live there. Scientists even put a special tracker on one of the turtles to study more about it! ________________________________ And, Hiking and climbing mountains are fun, but they can hurt the environment. A magazine found many outdoor clothing companies use harmful chemicals on their clothes to make them water resistant. These chemicals take a long time to break down, pollute water and soil, and even harm people’s health. ________________________________ And for today’s Tasty Tidbit, Did you know that insects don’t have lungs? So how do they breathe? They have holes on their bodies, which are called spiracles (氣孔). These holes act like little straws, letting air come in! ________________________________ And that's it for today's episode of News Bites! If you have a fun fact, a joke or interesting news story you'd like to share with us, record your message and send us your Tasty Tidbit to [e-mail], and you might hear it at the end of an episode. We'll see you next time for an exciting new episode of News Bites!