A beach on Inujima (Dog Island) in Japan, which is composed of a sand that is primarily slag. It is close to an abandoned copper refinery. In September last year, I participated in the Ark of Coral Reefs cruise. One of the stops was on Inujima, which you can read about here. In the picture … Continue reading Sandgate

In front of the Osaka expo with the mascot Myaku Myuaku. When we got up, we were passing by Kobe. Almost at our destination of Osaka! We lifted some of the sails on our approach to the Osaka Expo! The Osaka Expo! Our expedition had an event there the next day, but unfortunately I had … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Final Day

An old quarry on Inujima. When we awoke early in the morning of day 9 (September 22), we were already at our destination for the day, Inujima. Inujima means "Dog Island". It is located in Okayama Prefecture. The weather was already looking nice. We arrived on the island by a passenger ferry. The breakwater at … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 9

Day 8 (September 21) was mostly a transit day through the Seto Inland Sea. This is a shallow sea between Shikoku and Honshu Islands. During the last glaciation, it was dry land. They have dredged fossils of an extinct elephant from the bottom! Since this the Miraie is a training vessel, we also have to … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 8

Time for some paleo sea level science. Look at that terrace! On day 7, we arrived at the Tosashimizu Geopark in southern Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island. Plenty of interesting geology! For me, this was a day of paleo sea level! We made it to Shikoku in the morning of September 20th, reaching Ashizuri Port. … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 7

Obviously after the events of the previous day, day 6 (September 19th) was a solemn day. It was decided that we continue forth in the morning. With the delays, we could not raise the sails and had to use the engines to reach our next destination on time. After leaving Yakushima, we passed by Tanegashima. … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 6

Day 5 of the cruise (September 18) began with us already at the port in Yakushima. It looked to be a beautiful day. We were connecting with local organizations working on monitoring the corals on the island. The banner reads "ようこそサンゴの方舟", Welcome Coral Ark! One thing that interested me from the banner was that Yakushima, … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 5

Sunrise on the sails Day 4 (September 17) was a day of sailing. We got to see a bunch of volcanoes and dolphins! I started the day nice and early with my turn on watch. Sunrise. After a well deserved morning nap, I spent much of the afternoon working on presentations. We started passing by … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 4

On the third day of the cruise (September 16), we set sail! Our goal was to to sail all the way to Yakushima (another island in Kagoshima) in two days, though the calm conditions meant that it was very slow going. Kikaijima in the distance, with perfectly calm seas. The Miraie schooner is a training … Continue reading The Ark of Coral Reefs cruise – Day 3