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You'll start with kelp forests and intertidal invertebrate transects in northern Hokkaido. As you move south through Honshu and Kyushu, warm currents shift the species composition under the surface. The program ends snorkeling the coral reefs of the Ryukyu archipelago around Okinawa, running fish censuses alongside ichthyologists at local field stations. The full route covers more than 1,400 miles, much of it by bullet train.
The program goes deep into ichthyology methods (fish identification, survey design, building a class dataset for regional biodiversity comparisons), and on the role of museums and field stations as long-term records of how marine populations shift over time. We'll also learn from chefs, artisanal fishers, and aquaculturists about traditional and industrial fishing practices, and look at how communities along the coast have adapted in the wake of recent earthquakes and tsunamis.
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