The Shorelines of Iheya Island Turn Red

Posted on May 28, 2019 by Admin11

Mass coral spawning took place this weekend on Izena, Iheya and Noho Island. I have been waiting a very long time to see this natural wonder.

Coral spawn slick

Coral spawning takes place late at night during high tide. When many species of coral spawn on the same night it naturally forms a mass of gametes know as a coral spawn slick. These coral slicks eventually wash ashore the next morning. These brightly colored coral slicks give off a very strong odor that will stick in my memory forever.

Coral spawn slick

Coral spawn slick art

Iheya beach – RW&B

While exploring the island we stumbled upon more bright coral slicks. We often explored beaches polluted with single use waste. As you can see our trash is a series problem in our oceans and the shorelines worldwide.

Coral spawn slick and trash

Pink Coral spawn slick

Look close and you can see single-use waste and micro plastic floating on the surface of the water

Coral colored spawn slick

Red coral splash

Noho Island had a thick smelling coral slick at the local fishing port. A group of locals showed up to go swimming but immediately decided it was a bad idea and went to another location.

Noho – Fishing port

Coral spawn slick washed up

Noho fishing port

Learn more about making a difference, TEDx talk | Adapting to or Changing Environment by Shawn M Miller

My Mission: To document and preserve the wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

This site is also designed to help people identify the beautiful animals of Okinawa, basically to serve as an online nature reference guide. If you would like to make a contribution to support my mission, please click on the donation link paypal.me/maketheswitch4nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Featured Artist | Darell Oike

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Admin11

Last week, I received a positive message from Artist Darell Oike. It stated, your photographs of hermit crabs say a lot about the state of the oceans. The interface between the natural and the artificial is a theme that I address in my sculptural work. I’ve attached images of recent works that were inspired by your photographs.

Detritus

New works by Darrell Oike

The artificial and the natural have an ambiguous but inevitable relationship in the present and into the future. The artificial is the result of humankind’s ingenuity and ability to transform the natural. At what point does retransformation occur? When does litter become artifact? Is humanity destroying nature or simply participating in its perpetual cycles of change and transmutation? These are questions asked by Darrell Oike in his recent works.

Responding to his recent months long residency in a large city (Montreal) after having lived for most of his life in Haida Gwaii, a small northern archipelago in British Columbia, Darrell creates scenes where the man made and the natural interface; a pickerel eating snails off of a high heel, a catfish taking up residence in a Chanel bag, a dove deceased on a sidewalk. Evocative and foreboding, these new works in cold cast bronze and dry stone plaster are a change in course for the artist who for the past 20 years has been practicing in ceramics.

Urban environments seemingly leave little space for nature to thrive. There is little doubt that we affect change upon the natural environment and as a species our influence and impact on the planet is forceful and obvious but the relationships can be subtle. Hermit crabs have been documented, notably by photographer Shawn Miller, using plastic caps and containers instead of shells for protection. The house mouse, originally a wild species, now mainly inhabits buildings. From bacteria to whales, we share the planet with a myriad of organisms. The processes of evolution and extinction have existed since the amoeba. How do we move through time in a symbiosis with our biological neighbours? And what will be our legacy?

Darrell Oike has been working in ceramics from his studio in Tlell (which is a small community on the islands of Haida Gwaii on the north coast of British Columbia) for the past 20 years. With a tendency to explore subject matter and themes close at hand, he takes advantage of the endless natural beauty surrounding him. He has had several solo and group exhibitions of his ceramics in Haida Gwaii and Vancouver and sometimes teaches on the islands.

Seeking change and new stimuli, Darrell and his family relocated to Montreal this past summer. This new collection represents the body of work produced during an eight month residency at the Montreal Art Centre.

– Learn more about Darell Oike – https://www.darrelloike.com/

– If you would like to learn more about hermit crabs adapting with our waste please check out my post on “Crabs With Beach Trash Homes” by Shawn M Miller.

– Learn more about making a positive difference, TEDx talk | Adapting to or Changing Environment by Shawn M Miller

Birding and Plastic Dreams by Shawn Miller

Posted on May 17, 2019 by Admin11

Birding is one of the most popular hobbies for all ages. I find it enjoyable and extremely relaxing. It doesn’t matter where I go on Okinawa, I seem to find beautiful animals and trash. The animals have been forced to live with our single use waste. Below are some of my documentation photographs of animals surrounded by our waste.

Plastic Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Birding Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Birding Okinawa © Shawn Miller

Birding Okinawa © Shawn Miller

You can see how a bird could accidentally confuse single use plastic for actual fish. Now days, majority of marine birds have some form of plastic inside their stomachs.

Plastic pollution © Shawn Miller

This Gull arrived on Okinawa February 2016 with oil residue on its feathers. It spent most of the day bathing in the salt water trying to shake of the oil.

Birding © Shawn Miller

Plastic bag © Shawn Miller

Crab trash @Shawn Miller

Jungle crow and plastic

Even the endangered Okinawa rail (Gallirallus okinawae) has to deal with our waste.

Okinawa rail (Gallirallus okinawae) © Shawn Miller

Roadside streams are a great place to photograph waterbirds. This may look like a small waterfall but it’s actually a huge piece of plastic, beautiful isn’t it?

Plastic waterfalls © Shawn Miller

This post is not to make people sad, guilty or lose hope, It is to bring awareness to the ongoing trash problem in our oceans and on our shorelines. We all have the ability to make a difference by reducing the amount of single-use items we use daily.

The truth hurts © Shawn Miller

Learn more about making a difference, TEDx talk | Adapting to or Changing Environment by Shawn M Miller

My Mission: To Protect and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands for Future Generations. – If you would like to join my journey, check out my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/MakeTheSwitch4Nature

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

The Red Coral of Okinawa by Shawn Miller

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Admin11

One of my favorite types of coral is the red knotted sea fan ( Melithaea ochracea ). Mainly because of the color and the branching pattern. The vibrant red coral, white polyps and the blue water compliment one another. There are many small marine animals that thrive on the red tree of life. This beauty was photographed in the blue waters between Izena and Iheya Island.

April 4th 2019, I stumbled upon some colorful micro flatworms that I have never seen before. Leslie Harris informed me that these fast moving slugs were potentially undocumented benthic ctenophores.

Name: Coeloplana sp
Benthic ctenophore
Size: 8mm-10mm
Location: Okinawa, Japan
Depth: 40feet

Can you see how well the benthic ctenophore blends in with its host? This is a great example of mimicry.

Look close at the tiny chamber mounds. These mounds hold the stinging tentacles that are used for catching food and possibly for protection.

I found this strange benthic ctenophore (Coeloplana sp) on a dive near Ikea Island. When I first saw the ctenophore, the long stinging cells were extended out in hunting mode.

Some benthic ctenophores live on starfish (Echinaster luzonicus), look close and you can see the stinging cells.

A blue starfish (Linkia laevigata) infested with benthic ctenophores

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bring solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

Get Fa-Millerized with the Nature of the Ryukyu Islands – – – – SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Testing the Nauticam NA-D500 Underwater housing

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Admin11

It’s been a blast shooting with the Nikon D500 DSLR combined with the Nauticam Na-D500 housing. I am pleased with the superior quality and design of the entire system. My underwater rig is setup for shooting macro with two Sea & Sea YS-D2 strobes and a variety of Sola lights. I customized it slightly by mounting a Light & Motion Sola compact tray and loc-line arm kit to the bottom of the housing. This allows me to easily attach other Sola lights underwater based on my vision.

Nauticam NA-D500 shower

My favorite features of the Nauticam NA-500 Underwater housing

Internal camera lock-to prevent movement
Vacuum and leak detection system, Green is good!
Port lock system and audible housing lock latches
Super responsive optic flash system
Comfortable hand grips

I tested the Nikon D500 system with the Nikon AF-S Micro NIKKOR 60mm f/2.8G ED lens and the Nikon AF-S DX Micro NIKKOR 40mm f/2.8G lens. Both are responsive and quality pieces of glass. The great news is that they 40mm is compatible in the NAU-18701 port as well.

Below are my favorite fourteen photographs taken with the D500 underwater in the beautiful waters of Okinawa.

Bobtail Squid – D500|40mm

Hermit crab – D500|40mm

Reef squid D500|60mm

Nudibranch D500|40mm

Chromodoris hintuanensis D500|60mm

Paintpot cuttlefish D500|60mm

Dinahs Goby D500|60mm

Flatworm D500|60mm

Ryukyu Eyes D500|40mm

Pontoh’s Pygmy Seahorse D500|60mm

Fluorescence Nikon| 60mm

Bobtail squid D500|60mm

Eyes of Okinawa D500 | 60mm

If your planning on buying a Nauticam underwater housing online, I recommend Bluewater Photo, they are extremely knowledgable and have outstanding customer service.

I want to thank Black Fin Grouper, Light & Motion and Nightsea for all their continuous support over the years. Thank you!

Get Fa-Millerized with the Nature of the Ryukyu Islands – – – SUBSCRIBE BELOW

Hermit Crabs Living In Glass Bottles By Shawn Miller

Posted on May 4, 2019 by Admin11

Trash, treasure and the beautiful beaches of Okinawa.

One of my favorite things to do on the weekends is to go beach walking. Over the years, I have seen a significant increase in the amount of marine debris washed ashore. The trash is from all over the world, but majority of it washes up from Korea, China and Japan

Maeda flats

This post is not to make people sad, guilty or lose hope, It is to bring awareness to the ongoing trash problem in our oceans and on our shorelines.

Iheya beach

Majority of the glass bottles that wash ashore will eventually break. The resourceful blueberry hermit crabs take full advantage of any broken bottles and twist top caps. They eventually move into this valuable real estate and use it as a protective mobile home until they find a better option.

Marine debris

Broken glass Iheya Island

Hermit Crabs prefer to live in a natural seashell. The most durable home on Okinawa is the silver mouth turban shell.

Hermit crabs feeding

Due to a decline in the number of seashells, the hermit crabs have to adapt with our trash to survive. Below are photographs of hermit crabs found naturally adapting with metal twist caps and broken glass bottles.

Energy drink home

Energy drink home

Glass top Crab

Hermit crabs – real-estate

Metal cap

Hermit crab in a glass

The hermit crab is one of the few animals that can successfully adapt with our waste. If you would like to learn more about hermit crabs adapting with our waste please check out my post on “Crabs With Beach Trash Homes” by Shawn M Miller.

Learn more about making a difference, TEDx talk | Adapting to or Changing Environment by Shawn M Miller

My Mission: To Document and Preserve the Wildlife of the Ryukyu Islands

Your donations will help worldwide conservation initiatives as well as bringing solutions to the worldwide pollution issues on our beautiful shorelines. Thank you for your support. Shawn M Miller.

The Eyes of the Underwater World by Shawn Miller

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Admin11

Okinawa offers some of the best Scuba-diving in the world. I really enjoy the art of underwater macro photography. Macro subjects can always be found, it just takes some imagination and good framing to create beautiful underwater abstracts. Animal eyes are challenging and exciting areas to focus on. Below are some of my favorite photographs of vision taken on the Island of Okinawa.