Kagoshima Bay - Japan

Kagoshima Bay is located at the south end of Kyushu Island. It is almost 80Km long (north and south), 20Km wide (east and west), and 1,130km2 in area. It is 117m depth on average and 237m depth at its deepest. Since it is only 100m depth at the mouth of the bay, Kagoshima Bay is considered a closed inner bay. A branch of the Kuroshio Current flows in to the bay and provides the right environment for corals, then we can find coral communities on the southern coast of Sakurajima Island. Seaweed beds composed by Sargassum algae are distributed in shallow areas and some pods of dolphin stay in the bay. We can also find benthic animals including some commercial species in the deep area and the shallowest species of vestimentifera (Lamellibrachia satsuma), a host of chemosynthetic bacterial symbionts. Thus, Kagoshima Bay has a variety of habitats and very unique environmental conditions.