Coastal Area 11701 Central and southern Sanriku coast

Basic Information References

Reason(s) for selection Criteria

Characteristics References

These are the coastal waters off the Sanriku Rias Coast. The Sanriku Rias Coast is a typical coastline in which consecutive ria inlets are maintained in good condition. The inland bays of the rias (Yamada Bay, Funakoshi Bay, Ohtsuchi Bay, Hirota Bay, Shizugawa Bay and others) are home to expansive seaweed beds where eel grass, Zostera caulescens, Zostera caespitosa Miki, Phyllospadix iwatensis Makino and others) grow The seaweed beds of Yamada Bay in particular are home to pure communities with high levels of biodiversity. In addition, the inner tidal mud flats of Miyako Bay, Yamada Bay, Kamaishi Bay and others are highly diverse in terms of shallow-water benthos organisms. The ria coasts facing the open sea are highly productive, with mixtures of kombu kelp, wakame, and other seaweed beds. A large community of Sargassum yezoense is found here as well. The Minamisanriku Coast in the south is visited by Brent goose. The Mangokuura Sea is home to a mixture of sea-grass beds and seaweed beds, while Pyropia tenera has been confirmed to grow in the inner part of the sea. These waters also are rich in oyster, Japanese littleneck clam, and others. The Sanriku Ria Coast is a coast meeting highly on all criteria. In the mouth of the Kitakami River (Oppa Bay) live Asian clams, Japanese littleneck clams, sand bubbler crabs, Helice tridens, and others. Nagatsura Bay is home to Helice tridens, Deiratonotus cristatus, and Batillaria attramentaria (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). The seaweed beds here are feeding waters for green turtles in the summer (Yamane et al, 2013)