Er … this year, I was lucky enough to win a lottery for an admission to one of those reservation-only departure parties in Koajiro Forest 小網代の森 for chiromantes haematocheir babies アカテガ二放仔観察会 … or not. I sent an electronic application to Kanagawa Green Trust, received a congratulating email notifying me a party ticket for August 21st … and heard a weather report in the evening of August 19. “A tropical cyclone gained strength around Mariana Islands and became Typhoon #9, Mindulle. It is expected to move north, and hit Kanto region early 22nd. Please be prepared … blah, blah, blah …”
 |
| Mindulle
means dandelion in Korean. Its godparent is none other than DPRK! |
The moms of chiromantes haematocheir carry their eggs around their body and wait in the forest until they hatch. When the babies come out as zoeas, the moms bring them softly to the seashore during the evening and release them in flood tide. The babies say goodbye to the mom, and depart to their life time journey. The ecology of the Koajiro Forest is ideal for this event. The forest surrounds an entire river from its source to the estuary. The mouth of the river has a tideland where crab moms can utilize for their delivery with ease. On the other hand, basically Koajiro Forest is off-limit after sunset so that we cannot observe the occasions unless we join the tour organized by the Green Trust. I was looking forward to the night of 21st August … That weekend was the time Koajiro tideland received the highest tide in August 2016 so that crab-moms could have safe deliveries, … so I thought. That was a mistake. Typhoon swell magnified the high-tide even higher, which made the municipalities along Sagami Bay issue evacuation preparation information to the communities on the beach and the river. The Green Trust sent us a twitter feed. “Due to the storm surge, the Observation Tours for chiromantes haematocheir for 20th and 21st are cancelled.” ** sigh **
Mindulle did come to Kanto Area, destroyed trees next to JR Harajuku Station and other places, stopped many commuter trains, flooded lots of home, and became extratropical cyclone in the Sea of Okhotsk on 23rd. I don’t think moms of crabs can choose the date of delivery according to the weather. The babies’ first steps last weekend for chiromantes haematocheir must have been very stormy … Hmmm … this is life!
The latest gossip for Koajiro Forest. According to the people who know such things, the place is loved by the Emperor. When he and the Empress stay in the Hayama Imperial Villa, they secretly and frequently come to the Forest. Come to think of it, Emperor Akihito is a scholar for sea creatures. Koajiro Forest must be his play ground. When he retires near future, we might be given an audience by him often down there. ;)
If
you find a problem in Koajiro Forest, please make a contact with
Kanagawa
Green Trust かながわトラストみどり財団
Phone:
045-412-2255
Email:
midori@ktm.or.jp
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