Hokkaido University Marine Biology and Ecology in Cold-current Ecosystems

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2. Daikoku Island

The Daikoku Island has a total area of approximately 1 km2 and is locating offshore of Akkeshi. It takes ca. 20 minutes by boat from Akkeshi Marine Station to the island. There is a colony of common seal, Phoca vitulina, which is the second largest in Japan. In addition, the island is known as the breeding site of many kinds of seabirds such as Leach’s storm-petrel, Oceanodroma leucorhoa, and Rhinoceros Auklet, Cerorhinca monocerata. Nearshore waters off the Daikoku Island are also known as good fishing grounds of commercially important species such as cods and herrings.

The Daikoku Island
A common seal and
Japanese cormorants

4. Eelgrass beds

Eelgrass beds in Akkeshi are known to have the highest productivity in the world. Zostera marina dominated in the Akkeshi-ko estuary and Zostera japonica is seen at the intertidal shore. Thousands of Whooper swans visit the estuary from autumn to winter to forage eelgrasses. In the eelgrass beds in Akkeshi Bay, rare Zostera asiatica is commonly seen. Many marine species including fishery-important Hokkai shrimp, Pandalus latirostris, utilize eelgrass beds as their habitats. Akkeshi-ko estuary and Akkeshi Bay are well-known as aquaculture sites for oysters and Manila clams, and it is recently clarified that those animals mainly feed on benthic algae produced in the eelgrass beds.

Zostera asiatica in Akkeshi Bay

Hokkaido University “Marine Biology and Ecology in Cold-current Ecosystems”

Fields in Akkeshi

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