【ポイント】 永田灯台/永田灯台/ヨスジ漁礁
【水温】 26.4℃
【透明度】 25m
久しぶりの永田。
こっちの方がまだ水温が高く、透明度も良いかと思いきや、もはやこちらも一湊と変わらなかった。
風は北東が強く吹き、かなり瀬に白波があたり、時化気味。。。
永田は深場目的で行くことが多いが、今日は普通に。。。（笑）
一湊も永田も依然としてキビナゴが多いが、これを狙う回遊魚はやっぱり永田の方が凄い。
ツムブリとナンヨウカイワリの混合群れはダイビング中、終始僕らの周りをまわり、その群れも密度の濃い壁のような群れだ。
クマザサハナムロやササムロなども川のように流れ、かなり魚影の濃い海だった。
浅場はウネリのせいで、あまり落ち着かない。。。
Because Eastern Island is much flatter than Sand Island, 60% of the island was washed over during the 2011 Japan tsunami, resulting in contamination of their duck ponds and the deaths of tens of thousands of birds. Luckily, the population has since bounced back, and the island is thriving besides a large population of the invasive Verbesina plant. I did find one Japanese bottle on the ground, but as Midway has always had Japanese trash washing up on their shores, I can’t be sure if it’s from the initial tsunami or not.
Ocean trash is a big problem for the wildlife refuge, as you can often find little piles of colorful plastic pieces on the ground. The grim reality of this is that an albatross chick once sat there, and died from eating the plastic chips, which are brought to them by the parents along with their squid and fish diet. The volunteers and works often also have to untangle fishing nets from the reefs and shores.