![[Ocean Reading Guide] Give Yourself a Chance to Rediscover the Ocean — *Ocean Taiwan: A Chronicle of the Great Blue Homeland*](/_images/2a2bce0460cc-960w.webp)
Taiwan's Ocean, Fully Documented — A Breathtaking Window into Marine Life
Taiwan's landmass covers just over 36,000 square kilometers, while its territorial sea and internal waters span 65,000 square kilometers — often no bigger than a mung bean on a world map. But did you know? Taiwan's marine biodiversity is extraordinarily rich!
More than 12,000 species of marine life have been recorded in Taiwan's waters, including over 3,200 fish species — one-tenth of all known fish species in the world. Taiwan has documented more than 500 species of stony coral, approximately 300 species of soft coral, around 600 species of seaweed, over 500 species of crabs and shrimp, roughly 50 species of seabirds, about 30 species of cetaceans, and 5 species of sea turtles. It is remarkable that such a small island harbors such extraordinary marine biodiversity!
Why is Taiwan's marine environment so uniquely blessed? Because Taiwan sits at the convergence of three Large Marine Ecosystems — the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Kuroshio Current. Nestled between the Ryukyu Islands and the Philippine Archipelago, Taiwan is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean (Philippine Sea), the Luzon Strait, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the East China Sea. This geography sustains a wide variety of marine ecosystems, including coral reef ecosystems, seagrass bed ecosystems, mangrove ecosystems, algal reef ecosystems, rocky reef ecosystems, and oceanic ecosystems — all teeming with rich and diverse marine life.
Huang Xiao-Mo, author of Ocean Taiwan: A Chronicle of the Great Blue Homeland, has spent years diving into Taiwan's waters — personally jumping in to report firsthand, undaunted by hardship or danger, and returning with on-the-ground accounts of the state of Taiwan's oceans. (Photo / Allen-Lee)
Among these ecosystems, coral reefs are among the most vital for sustaining human economic life. They are also the marine ecosystems people can most readily explore through dive travel — offering a direct connection to the ocean that, in turn, inspires a desire to protect and cherish it.
Taiwan has more than 160 islands and 1,988 kilometers of coastline. Coral can be found from the Northeast Coast in the north to the Hengchun Peninsula in the south, as well as on the outlying islands of Xiaoliuqiu, Green Island, Orchid Island, Jilong Island, Turtle Island, the North Three Islands, the Penghu Archipelago, the Dongsha Atoll, and Taiping Island in the South China Sea.
Thanks to Taiwan's advantageous geographic position and highly diverse marine habitats, the convergence of different ocean currents creates a striking contrast: the warm Kuroshio Current flows northward along the east coast, the south, and Xiaoliuqiu, while cold coastal waters from the Chinese mainland flow southward along the north coast and past Penghu. This gives Taiwan's marine biogeography a distinctive diagonal divide — running from upper-right to lower-left — separating tropical and subtropical zones, resulting in marked differences in marine species between the northern and southern waters.
We should approach the ocean with reverence and understanding — but not with ignorant fear. As technology advances, there are ever more ways for people to get close to the ocean and truly know it. This small, beautiful island of Taiwan holds so much diversity and wonder. Come out to sea with us — dive in and discover her!
The waters of the Penghu South Islands National Park boast high coral coverage and abundant fish populations. The spectacular purple Acropora coral reef of Dongji Island is so breathtaking that divers have dubbed it the "Underwater Lavender Forest." (Photo / 京太郎)
This book is an ocean documentary more than three years in the making, produced by Rhythms Monthly contributing writer Huang Jia-Lin (Huang Xiao-Mo) and a team of outstanding marine photographers. Author Huang Jia-Lin (Huang Xiao-Mo) began her reporting journeys at sea and underwater in 2014, traveling along Taiwan's east and west coasts, diving at sites in the north and south, and venturing to outlying islands including the Dongsha Atoll, Xiaoliuqiu, Green Island, Orchid Island, Penghu, and Turtle Island. Extending her gaze from land down beneath the ocean surface, she was repeatedly astonished and moved by the richness of Taiwan's marine ecosystems during her circumnavigation tours — and then grew worried for the creatures she encountered, and ultimately felt guilt, anger, and helplessness on behalf of all of us who live on this land.
The book includes many rarely seen, precious photographs — extraordinary moments captured by dozens of marine photographers who risked their lives and waited for long stretches of time for the perfect shot. The editorial team hand-selected 205 images to guide readers through the wondrous beauty of Taiwan's oceans, to experience the island's splendor and its sorrows, and to feel a deeper humility before nature.
It is our hope that this book will bring more people closer to the ocean, inspire them to care for it, broaden the horizons of the heart, and help us find a way to balance marine conservation with economic development — forging a sustainable path for humans and nature to coexist.
Eighty percent of ocean debris originates on land. Every year, eight million tonnes of plastic flow into the sea, polluting the ocean — and marine creatures have even begun making homes in it. A frogfish, which typically inhabits sargassum, has taken refuge inside a discarded drinking cup. (Photo / Marco-Chang)
About the Author of Ocean Taiwan: A Chronicle of the Great Blue Homeland
Author: Huang Jia-Lin (Huang Xiao-Mo)
Island travel lifestyle writer and sustainable tourism advocate.
With over ten years of experience as a journalist, she has traveled extensively both in Taiwan and abroad. In recent years she has combined ocean environmental issues with marine tourism promotion — diving to report on renowned dive sites at home and overseas — and has long followed topics including ecotourism, dive tourism, and marine conservation. Her work has appeared across major media outlets; she is also a frequent guest on radio, television, and online programs to share her travel experiences, and regularly lectures at schools, government agencies, and corporations on sustainable tourism and marine conservation.
She learned to scuba dive at thirty. Because she loves Taiwan so deeply, she poured her life into writing this book, Ocean Taiwan: A Chronicle of the Great Blue Homeland. Her passion for the sea and love of adventure have kept her living and traveling between cities and island shores ever since.
A graduate of the Department of Journalism at Shih Hsin University, she has worked as a travel reporter for China Times, an arts and culture reporter for Foresight Weekly News, and a Shanghai-based correspondent for Era Television. She now lives a life of wandering — eating, drinking, playing, and exploring — as a travel journalist, ocean journalist, independent media creator, freelance reporter, and sustainable tourism marketing consultant, embracing a multi-hyphenate life.
Every sea turtle has a unique facial scale pattern. This one is affectionately nicknamed "Big Bro the Foodie." Plastic bags drifting through the water resemble jellyfish and are frequently ingested by sea turtles by mistake; plastic is also commonly found in sea turtle feces. (Photo / Su Huai)
[Endorsement] Huang Hsiang-Wen, Director-General, Ocean Conservation Administration, Ocean Affairs Council
The book examines the challenges facing our oceans from a scientific foundation, and in terms of the scope and depth of interviews alone, it is unmatched. This gives the book a level of scientific rigor that sets it apart from other writings about the ocean — yet it is never dry or difficult; it reads with an accessible, popular-science sensibility.
[Endorsement] Chen Mei-Hui, Professor, Department of Forestry, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology
A large portion of the full series approaches the subject through dive travel, bringing readers up close to marine ecosystems. This is a book that reads like a work on marine conservation while simultaneously shining a light on environmentally responsible approaches to tourism.
Ocean Taiwan: A Chronicle of the Great Blue Homeland
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