Diving for Seaweed Reef Work in Yawatahama_260119

Date: January 19, 2026
Location: Mukainada, Yawatahama City
Weather: Sunny
Water Temperature: 15°C
Tide: Spring Tide

Following the work in Akebono, we installed ropes with seedlings in Yawatahama.
This site is about 6 meters deep, which is shallower than Akebono,
and since it was our second location,
the work went more smoothly than in Akebono.

However, since this was our second dive of the day,
it was finally getting cold...!

We entered the water thinking the work itself would take about 10 minutes, but when we finally surfaced, an hour had passed...!
Surprising. Haha

Once you get into the water, you want to look at this and that,
and you end up wanting to observe all sorts of things.

It has been about two months since this seaweed reef was installed.
When I took a close look at the floats, there were many small algae-like things...

This could potentially be the gametophytes of Ecklonia kurome...!
If so, it's a sign of success.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks next time we dive.

Also, while working on the seaweed reef,
there was a little one floating and wandering around.

It was wandering around in a similar spot last time, too.
Could it be the same one!?
Thinking that makes me feel attached to it.
It's cute, but it definitely has venom...!
It's actually quite scary, as I might accidentally get stung.
And it doesn't seem to have any wariness, as it comes quite close.
If possible, I'd like it to watch from afar. Haha

Also, this time, I encountered a little one I wasn't familiar with.

This one is also cute.
It was wandering around near the seaweed reef.

When I looked it up, it seems to be a juvenile map puffer.
A southern-type fish that you'd expect to find on a coral reef.
It must have ridden the ocean currents here; we also saw a juvenile painted spiny lobster this season, so I feel like more creatures are drifting in and settling down for a while.
By the way, the painted spiny lobster was gone this time.
I don't think this map puffer will be able to overwinter either.
However, since even small changes like this can be part of a larger shift, I hope to continue observing carefully in the future.

And although the Ecklonia kurome had completely disappeared during the summer,
this time, we saw it sprouting here and there.
That's a relief!

Also, even though it had been eaten quite a bit,
there were some Ecklonia kurome that worked hard and started growing new leaves.

From now until early spring is the season for seaweed to flourish.
Besides the Ecklonia kurome, various other seaweeds were also starting to grow.

Finally.
This time, there was a fever of white dorid nudibranchs.