Fragile Paradise: A 40-Year Rendezvous with the Hengchun Coast

Recalling my first visit to the southern tip of Taiwan in the 1980s, I fell in love with the tropical charm of the peninsula. The high coral reefs and tropical coastal forests along the shore still retained their natural wildness. Most tourists to Hengchun preferred visiting popular spots or staying on the beaches for water activities. However, the most captivating part was the enchanting underwater world beneath the azure sea. The three-dimensional and diverse environment composed of reef-building corals, soft corals, and sandy seabeds is a paradise for marine life, a mesmerizing Crystal Palace of the sea.

- Seaweed Forest: Swaying Tails, Dancing Forests
The nearshore coral reef areas are a significant hub for marine scholars in Taiwan. In particular, the coral reef coast at Nanwan's Tiaoshi has become a cradle for cultivating marine ecology researchers. The Sargassum forest at Nanwan serves as a window into the marine world. Taking a deep breath, diving down, and following the cardinalfish through the Sargassum forest, we, though intruders, seemed to be accepted by the marine life. The immediate thrill made us fall in love with the ocean forever.

- Raging Yellow Plague: Driven by Desire, Created Destruction
Since the 1990s, the number of tourists to Hengchun Peninsula has steadily increased, leading to various coastal development projects. From public infrastructure such as coastal highways, port expansions, and slope protection walls to private hotels, guesthouses, and river improvements, these legal or illegal constructions disturb the land. A typhoon or heavy rainstorm would wash away the exposed topsoil, causing yellow muddy water to flow into the nearshore waters, covering the coral reefs with thick sediment. Another crisis is the black sewage flowing into Hengchun's ocean. The influx of tourists leads to domestic wastewater entering the nearshore waters, with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients from land-based pollutants causing some algae to proliferate rapidly. Overfishing and ecological imbalance exacerbate the impact on coral reefs. Before 1990, the coral coverage rate in Nanwan's Tiaoshi area was about 50%. However, due to the 1998 El Niño phenomenon, the 2001 sediment crisis, domestic wastewater and garbage pollution, and typhoon waves, the coral coverage rate once plummeted to 15%.

- Heat Wave Hits: Signs of Bleaching, Omens of Extinction
The impact of global warming also poses a threat. If the water temperature exceeds the 30-degree threshold for coral growth for more than a week, the symbiotic algae in the corals will leave or die, causing coral bleaching. Without a decrease in water temperature, corals gradually die, and many heat-sensitive coral species have already disappeared from Hengchun's waters. The heat damages in 1998, 2007, and 2020, coupled with pollution and destruction, further jeopardized the fate of corals.

- Symbiosis Awakening: Citizens' Guardianship, Finding a Path for the Ocean
People love the ocean but neglect to treat it well. In recent years, many community residents have become aware of changes in their hometown and have launched self-initiated protection actions. Citizen actions and advocacy have led to significant changes. From civil society to the government, efforts are being made to find a way out for this ocean, hoping for a possible symbiosis. Changing perceptions is not instantaneous, but perhaps a beginning brings hope.

- Hustle at the Cape: Meeting All Living Beings, Revisiting Ocean Hengchun
In the blink of an eye, forty years have passed. We have witnessed the biodiversity of the marine world, the midway island of species reproduction, and the wonders of symbiosis, mutual benefit, and the brilliance of the biological world. Standing on the shore, watching the summer crowds come and go, sharing joys and sorrows with the ocean of Hengchun feels like an endless silent dialogue. When will this coast get to rest and recuperate? Shouldn't we, at least, do something for this wonderful encounter?