Coral Reefs off Katsuren Peninsula are NOT dead. 勝連沖のサンゴ礁は死んでいない。

(Photos from Ryukyu Shimpo Webpage)

It has been widely reported that the coral reefs in the ocean off White Beach, the candidate area for building a replacement facility for Futenma Air Station, are already dead and there won't be much environmental concern for reclaiming to build a large artificial island to accommodate a new base. (See our previous post for some details of this plan.)

Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Times, the two Okinawan newspapers didn't take those reports at face value. They sent their diver reporters to investigate the area on April 1(not a joke), and discovered that the coral reefs are as alive as they are in the photos and the video they took.

Please go to the Okinawa Times website for this must-see video.

Off Katuren Peninsula - Carpet of Coral Reefs by Okinawa Times

Towards the end of the video, you see the mozuku farms. The area has the biggest number of mozuku farms in Japan. Mozuku is a kind of seaweed you find in many Okinawan dishes and it is popular across the nation as a mineral-rich healthy ingredient in sunomono salad, soup and tempura. Understandably there is a strong opposition from the fishing industry in that area against the new base plan.

The two islands at the front side of the first photo are the Ukibaru Island (right) and Minami Ukibaru Island (left), and they are marked with red dots with a cross on the diagram below, and those dots were the areas where the divers took these photographs between 10 AM and 3 PM of April 1. The rectangular area shown in the second diagram is the area to be reclaimed for that artificial island, with the connecting bridges to the Hamahiga Island and Heanza Island, which you see beyond the Ukibaru and Minami Ukibaru Islands. The picture of the coral was taken between those two islands.

The Ryukyu Shimpo divers saw multiple coral reefs at 10 to 15 meter under the surface. The biggest they saw was 10 meters in diameter. They also saw small fish like long-spine porcupine fish and anemone fish. Nakai Tatsuro, an expert of coral reefs at Kokushikan University examined the photos and identified different kinds of corals, including "hamasango　ハマサンゴ," "komon sango枝状コモンサンゴ," and "isobana　イソバナ." (I have no idea for the English names of these corals. Please help if you know.) Nakai said, "Corals have died in certain areas but they may revive because this area is a good environment for them. Coral reefs also act as egg-laying sites for many species in the ocean. Their loss will negatively affect the aquatic resources in this area."

Also see the photos in these articles.

Listen to the Song of the Ocean (Ryukyu Shimpo)

Coral Reefs in the Ocean off Katuren (Okinawa Times)

"Treasure Ocean" Alive (Ryukyu Shimpo)

Coral reefs off Katuren Peninsula are NOT dead.

PeacePhilosopher

琉球新報　４月２日記事

豊じょうの海 サンゴ輝く　普天間移設候補地2010年4月2日

移設案が浮上した勝連半島沖。写真の右側が北。手前右は浮原島、左は南浮原島。中央には浜比嘉島、さらに右奥に平安座島が見える（花城太撮影）
　政府が検討している米軍普天間飛行場の勝連半島沖埋め立て案で、移設候補地に生きたサンゴ群落が広がっていることが１日、分かった。本紙カメラマンが同地で水中撮影した。同地のサンゴは死滅しており環境への影響は少ないとする意見もあるが、専門家は「サンゴは死滅していない」と指摘し、埋め立ての影響を懸念している。
　撮影は１日午前１０時ごろから午後３時すぎにかけて勝連半島沖の浮原島―南浮原島間のリーフ内と浮原島北側のリーフ外で行った。水深１０～１５メートルの海中に複数の種類のサンゴ群落が点在し、最大で直径約１０メートルのものもあった。ハリセンボンやクマノミなど小さな魚の姿も見えた。
　写真を鑑定した国士舘大非常勤講師（サンゴ礁地理学）で日本サンゴ礁学会の中井達郎氏によると、枝状と塊状のハマサンゴ、枝状コモンサンゴ、イソバナなどが写っている。
　中井氏は「サンゴの群集が大きく、サンゴが生育するのにいい環境がある」と評価。サンゴが死滅している場所もあるが、環境が良いため再生する可能性も高いという。中井氏は「少なくとも『死滅している』とは言えない状態だ」と埋め立て案に疑問符を呈し「サンゴ礁は海の生物の産卵場所にもなっている。失われれば水産資源にも影響するかもしれない」と懸念した。

＜用語＞勝連半島沖埋め立て案
　米軍普天間飛行場の移設案の一つ。うるま市浜比嘉島の東方沖合１３００メートルのリーフ内約１０２１ヘクタールを埋め立て、航空自衛隊那覇基地や米軍那覇港湾施設（那覇軍港）の機能も併せ持つ人工島を造成する。３０００～３６００メートルの滑走路３本を擁し、架橋で浜比嘉島と宮城島にそれぞれ接続する。県内の経済関係者が政府側に提案した。地元で反対集会が開催されるなど反発が相次いでいる。