Amami is a beautiful place. The hills meet the ocean and create a spectacular coastline. Wherever you go there are amazing views. The water is warm, like a soothing bath. I spend a lot of time snorkeling here. It's pretty much too hot to do anything else outside, and sometimes it's too hot to even snorkel. I went one day for an hour and a half in the morning and had a heat hangover for the rest of the day and the next. I always swim with a shirt, but the top of my head got burned through my (thinning) hair. I've started going to the beach around 4PM, as the sun is less brutal then.
We went to the local tourist beach yesterday, Ohama Kaigan. Usually I wonder who the hypothetical tourists would be, but this year the island is overrun with people here to see the total eclipse of the sun. It was packed, on a Monday. Ohama is the closest beach, except for the one in town here, next to the sewage treatment plant, which is actually pretty good snorkeling. I guess the fish like all the nutrients or something.
Usually it's pretty calm at Ohama, but the wind was whipping up some nice waves. Theo loves to get tossed around in the waves, and he spent hours playing. We went for a little snorkel, but the visibility was terrible. Practically anywhere you go on Amami, yo can step off the beach into a coral reef. This beach has an extensive shallow coral reef, but it's in pretty bad shape. I think because it's so shallow it must get trampled a lot. There are still a lot of fish around, but as far as live coral or sponges, it's pretty dead. The reef around the whole island is in pretty bad shape. You can find spots of coral here and there, but it's at least 90% dead and seems to get worse every year I visit. I first visited 12 years ago, and I have noticed a dramatic decline in the health of the reef. Of course global warming is killing off reefs everywhere.
This is the first year that I've had an underwater casing for my camera, so I've been taking pictures and trying to identify the species I see. There must be hundreds of kinds of fish and other creatures, and they are easy to see and get close to. In contrast, when I go birding in the forest, I'm lucky if I see 6 species of birds. I have what is supposed to be the best guide to underwater life, with over 1000 fish, but that's only about 25% of the reef species worldwide, so it's not that much help. The water isn't that clear, since it is summer, and the plankton blooms in summer. I'd love to come here in the winter, when temperatures are moderate and the water is clearer. Most of these pictures were taken at Tomori and a place I think is called Yoan, although there's no sign that I can read. These are the best places for snorkeling of the numerous places around the island that I have tried.
I was snorkeling the other day with a school of these cute little fish, and they were swimming all around me. I thought, "wow, they are getting really close to me. They must really like me." Then one took a chunk out of my finger, the rabid little guppy.
I believe this is a cornetfish. He was changing the patterns on his back as he swam along.
This is one of my favorite fishes, a Picasso Triggerfish. They are cool looking fish, very colorful, although the colors are muted by the camera. They are very defensive of their territories, and I have had several attack me, swimming and head butting me in the mask. You do have to be a little careful, as I've heard they can bite your finger off with their powerful jaws (used for eating shellfish).
Another beautiful Triggerfish, the Clown Triggerfish.
The coral makes some pretty fantastic structures. It really is a totally different world down there.
I believe this is a cornetfish. He was changing the patterns on his back as he swam along.
This is one of my favorite fishes, a Picasso Triggerfish. They are cool looking fish, very colorful, although the colors are muted by the camera. They are very defensive of their territories, and I have had several attack me, swimming and head butting me in the mask. You do have to be a little careful, as I've heard they can bite your finger off with their powerful jaws (used for eating shellfish).
Another beautiful Triggerfish, the Clown Triggerfish.
The coral makes some pretty fantastic structures. It really is a totally different world down there.
Clark's Anemone Fish protected by an anemone. These little guys are vicious, too when they're protecting their babies (little Nemo).
A varied scene of coral with some little irridescent blue fish.
Kraits are pretty common. It's a little creepy swimming around with a poisonous snake, but they don't bother you. I've heard that their mouths are too small to latch on to you anyway, and I'd like to believe it.
There are also lots of pufferfish and porcupine fish.
Kraits are pretty common. It's a little creepy swimming around with a poisonous snake, but they don't bother you. I've heard that their mouths are too small to latch on to you anyway, and I'd like to believe it.
There are also lots of pufferfish and porcupine fish.
A lot of the fish like to play hide and seek in the crevices of the reef.
This is more what a healthy, colorful chunk of reef should look like.
The blue thing is a clam embedded in the coral.
Colorful Featherduster worms embedded in the coral. They live in tubes and extend their tendrils to gather food. If you disturb the water next to them, they retract instantly into their tubes.
Masami hates these sea cucumbers. She's afraid of them, which is weird, since they don't do much but lay around on the sea floor like a giant slug the size of your forearm. I think they're kind of cute.
This is more what a healthy, colorful chunk of reef should look like.
The blue thing is a clam embedded in the coral.
Colorful Featherduster worms embedded in the coral. They live in tubes and extend their tendrils to gather food. If you disturb the water next to them, they retract instantly into their tubes.
Nice fish, but not in the book.
Lots of different kinds of butterfly fish.
The snorkeler.
Here's an underwater video of Tomori.
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