Coral Reefs and Wildlife
The water surrounding Aka-jima is supplied from the Kuroshio current. Healthy coral reefs, with a rich diversity of sea life, make the area a treasure trove for marine scientists, divers and snorkelers.
In 1988 Akajima Marine Science Laboratory (AMSL) was established under the auspices of the Japanese Science and Technology Agency. A number of scientists visit AMSL every year to research the coral reef ecosystems.
Around 360 fish species and 1,640 invertebrate species (including hermatypic corals) and 220 seaweed species have been recorded in the Kerama Islands, but many groups of organisms have not yet been surveyed. Green turtles, loggerheads, and hawksbill turtle lay eggs on the beaches in summer. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are regular visitors in January to April and use the Kerama Islands as their breeding ground.
Akajima is also noted for its terrestrial wildlife, especially its birds, butterflies and Golden silk orb-weaver spiders. Kerama deer (a subspecies of the Japanese deer) are unique to the Kerama islands group and are able to swim between the islands. These deer have been designated a national protected species of Japan.
Read more about this topic: Aka Island
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Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
Nothing of him that doth fade,
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell:
Ding-dong.
Hark! Now I hear them—ding-dong bell.”
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