Daikoku Island (Akkeshi)

Daikoku Island (大黒島, Daikoku-jima) is an uninhabited island in Akkeshi, Hokkaidō, Japan. Together with the smaller island of Kojima (小島) to the north, it forms a natural breakwater at the entrance to Akkeshi Bay (厚岸湾).[3] At the southwest tip of the island at an elevation of approximately 105 metres is Akkeshi Lighthouse (厚岸灯台), which began operations on 25 November 1890.[3][4] Of the island's 107 hectares, 64 are owned by the state, 42 by the municipality, and one is in private hands.[2]

Daikoku Island
Native name:
大黒島
Geography
LocationPacific coast of eastern Hokkaidō
Coordinates42°57′01″N 144°52′09″E
Area1.07 km2 (0.41 sq mi)[1]
Length1.8 km (1.12 mi)[2]
Width700 m (2300 ft)[2]
Coastline6.1 km (3.79 mi)[2]
Highest elevation108 m (354 ft)[2]
Administration
Japan
PrefectureHokkaido
SubprefectureKushiro Subprefecture
DistrictAkkeshi District
VillageAkkeshi
Demographics
Populationuninhabited

Environment

The island forms part of Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park and its entire area of 107 hectares is a Special Wildlife Protection Area.[1][5] It provides an important breeding ground for seabirds, in particular several hundred thousand Leach's storm petrel,[2] as well as the tufted puffin, Japanese cormorant, pelagic cormorant, spectacled guillemot, slaty-backed gull, and rhinoceros auklet.[2][6][3] Twelve hectares of the breeding grounds have been designated a Natural Monument.[6] The island has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International for its seabird colonies.[7]

Also found on the island are the grey-sided vole and harbour seal.[2][8] Trees include the green alder, painted maple, and Erman's birch; other plants, Sakhalin knotweed and Parasenecio hastatus.[2]

References
  1. 国指定鳥獣保護区一覧 [List of Wildlife Protection Areas established at a National level] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  2. 国指定大黒島鳥獣保護区 [Daikoku-jima National Wildlife Protection Area] (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of the Environment. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  3. 大黒島海鳥繁殖地 [Daikoku-jima Seabird Breeding Ground] (in Japanese). Akkeshi Town. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  4. 灯台周辺案内 [Guide to the Lighthouses in the vicinity of Kushiro] (in Japanese). Japan Coast Guard. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  5. 厚岸道立自然公園 [Akkeshi Prefectural Natural Park] (in Japanese). Hokkaidō Prefecture. 9 January 2014. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  6. 大黒島海鳥繁殖地 [Daikoku Island Seabird Breeding Grounds] (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  7. "Daikoku islet". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  8. de Guia, Anna Pauline; Saitō Takashi; Ishibashi Yasuyuki; Abe Hisashi (2007). "Taxonomic status of the vole in Daikoku Island, Hokkaido, Japan: examination based on morphology and genetics". Mammal Study. The Mammalogical Society of Japan. 32 (1): 33–44. Retrieved 22 October 2016.

See also
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