ON BOARD THE SHINSEI MARU -- A marine survey around the Senkaku Islands of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, was conducted Monday by the city. This was the second such environmental conservation survey since the one conducted in January last year.
Based on the data collected, the city will consider measures to protect rare wildlife.
A Yomiuri Shimbun reporter accompanied the team this time. The 997-ton Shinsei Maru survey boat, with Mayor Yoshitaka Nakayama and Tokai University researchers commissioned by the city aboard, arrived at an area about 3 kilometers off the southern coast of Uotsuri Island at around 7:50 a.m. Monday. The researchers flew a drone several times to within 300 meters of the island and took images of the surface.
