Table corals are growing in a colony near Sokodo Beach on Hachijo Island, one of the Izu Islands in Hachijo, Tokyo. The area is gathering attention as a place where corals and humans live in close proximity to each other.
In the late 1980s, wave-dissipating blocks were placed about 300 meters offshore to prevent erosion of the nearby beach, which also protect the corals from waves, allowing them to grow.
During the same period, two surveys were conducted on the corals growing near the island, but the area near the beach, on the inside of the wave dissipating blocks, was not included, according to the Environment Ministry.
In September last year, local divers took photos of the colony and posted them to social media, informing the public about its existence.
"The growth of such a large coral colony could be attributed to the wave dissipating blocks, which have created an environment similar to a reef," said Takeshi Igarashi, director of the Shell Hall, Mutsu city sea and forest experience center in Aomori Prefecture, who researched coral on the island from 1984 to 2005. "The corals in Tokyo are quietly living."
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