January 22, 2014 Katsuyoshi Oshiro, correspondent of Ryukyu Shimpo
In the morning of January 11, two humpback whales swam 200 meters off the coast of the Ginama district of Kunigami Village. They moved slowly, occasionally shooting up a spray of water and slamming their tail fins into the surface.
In summer, the whales stay in waters in high latitudes such the sea near the Aleutian Islands. In the winter, they migrate to warmer waters in lower latitudes in order to breed. The whales...
July 24, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo
With the rainy season having finished, pure white flowers are in full bloom in the northern area of Okinawa. Their outstanding beauty captivates people in the lead-up to midsummer.
Tarenna gracilipes are found from the southern area of Kyushu down to Okinawa...
July 11, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo
About 25,000 sunflowers now as high as two meters are in full bloom in a 1,980 square-meter field in Miyahira, Haebaru. Local resident Shinsuke Arakaki owns the field.
Haebaru Town and the Town Tourist Association celebrated the sunflowers on July 10, but...
June 6, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo
Sagaribana powderpuff trees are blooming along the avenue by the Palette Kumoji shopping mall in Kumoji, Naha, creating an even more attractive night downtown. Adorable pink or white flowers with a subtle fragrance delight passers-by.
Sagaribana are mainly...
June 1, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo
A capybara was spotted in the Arakawa River in Ishigaki on the evening of the May 27. Firefighters rushed to the scene after being notified by residents but they failed to capture the animal, which fled at a pace belying its appearance. The animal, which may have...
February 15, 2013 Ryukyu Shimpo
On February 14, as its caregivers looked on, the black-faced spoonbill that had been receiving medical treatment in an animal hospital in Naha since the end of last year was safely released back to the wild. Its injuries have healed but the bird was becoming...
December 22, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo
On December 19, a male Yambaru kuina or Okinawan rail that was saved from an attack by crows near the Okuni Forest Road in Taiho, Ogimi Village was released back into the forest. The place in which the Okinawan rail was rescued is at the southern limit...
April 18, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo
On April 17, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium announced that the unfamiliar galatheoidea (a superfamily of decapod crustaceans comprising some squat lobsters and porcelain crabs) that they found is a new species of galathea, or squat lobster. The staff member of the...
March 15, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo
On March 14, a black-faced spoonbill that had been entangled in fishing line recovered from its troubled situation flew into the sky over the Toyosaki mudflats, Tomigusuku. Two staff members of the Nature Conservation Section of the Okinawa Prefectural Government...
March 12, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo
On the evening of March 11, a black-faced spoonbill that had been found with a fishing line wrapped around its beak on March 4 at the mud flats in the southern part of the main island, was taken into care.
From around 4:30pm that day, more than a dozen people...
March 13, 2012 Ryukyu Shimpo
In Ishigaki, people saw the first baby water buffalo in many a year, and have named it Katsuzakura. Yoji Fukunaka, a teacher at Yaeyama Agriculture High School and Karin Heanza, a second grade student, have been taking care of the buffalos. Katsuzakura is the first...
Webcam(Kokusai Street)