Coastal Area 12101 Adjacent waters of Cape Inubo

Basic Information References

Reason(s) for selection Criteria

Characteristics References

These waters are centered on Cape Inubo, which juts out into the Pacific. On the sandy beaches of Hasaki in the north, which includes the lower reaches of the Tone River, are distributed numerous Numenius phaeopus, spotted redshank, sanderling, ruddy turnstone, and Eurasian oystercatcher. The coast around Cape Inubo is habitat to Phyllospadix japonicus, and there are broad seaweed communities, mainly of kombu kelp and Sargassum fulvellum here as well (this is the southern limit of distribution of cold-water seaweed) (Ministry of the Environment, 2001). The waters in the vicinity of Cape Inubo are a site of direct interaction between the Kuroshio Current and the Oyashio Current, and the perimeter areas of the shore zone in particular also are home to what would appear to be shellfish endemic to this area (Okutani, 2000) and other distinguishing features.