Current location:Global Grid news portal > opinions
VOX POPULI: Rooting for the Sendai killifish that survived the 2011 tsunami
Global Grid news portal2024-05-22 00:00:53【opinions】4People have gathered around
IntroductionIn February 1999, the Environment Agency (the present-day Environment Ministry) shocked the nation b
In February 1999, the Environment Agency (the present-day Environment Ministry) shocked the nation by designating the all-too-familiar “medaka” killifish as an endangered species.
That was exactly a quarter-century ago. Has the medaka population grown or declined since then?
“Unfortunately, the medaka’s risk of extinction is growing,” said ichthyologist Arimune Munakata, 51, an associate professor at the Miyagi University of Education. “Although preservation measures have proven successful in some regions, many of their habitats have been lost.”
He continued, “If we provisionally set the medaka population at the end of the Edo Period (1603-1867) at 100, the population today has been reduced to less than 10 due to pesticides and invasive foreign species.”
Munakata has been working to revive schools of wild medaka that carry genes unique to natives of the Sendai area.
They were believed to have been driven to extinction by the tsunami triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011.
But it so happened that the year before the quake, researchers at Munakata’s university had collected 20 to 30 medaka near the Ido district of Sendai’s Wakabayashi Ward and were raising them in the university’s research pond.
Munakata named these fish “Ido Medaka” after the district they came from. And when he sought volunteer breeders, individuals as well as schools and corporate groups positively responded.
These medaka are black. Munakata held lectures and workshops at a local zoo to ensure that the fish were not cross-bred with red and yellow pet medaka.
“Thankfully, the Ido Medaka population has now grown to the tens of thousands,” Munakata beamed. “They are a symbol of (Sendai’s) recovery from the disaster.”
After my interview with him at his university, I headed by car to Wakabayashi Ward, where many residents perished in the tsunami.
In a pond installed at the former site of an elementary school, the medaka were swimming freely and vigorously. Every individual was beautifully black.
As I watched them, my thoughts turned to animals and plants unique to the Noto Peninsula that must have been washed away by the tsunami triggered by the earthquake on New Year’s Day.
Are there rare species that are now on the verge of extinction? With water service disruptions and power blackouts still plaguing survivors of the Noto Peninsula earthquake, I know there is nothing that can be done yet.
But I pray, at least, that when life returns to normal, people’s attention will turn to the revival of those small endangered lives.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 13
(This article was carried only in extra online editions for the newspaper holidays)
* *
*Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
Address of this article:http://zambia.arnoldview.org/content-67c199923.html
Very good!(8696)
Related articles
- Defending champion South Carolina to open season in Las Vegas against Michigan
- Prominent surgeon says he was denied entry to Germany for a pro
- Argentina's populist president meets billionaire Elon Musk in Texas — and a bromance is born
- Colombia's capital starts rationing water after reservoirs hit historically low levels
- Judge orders man accused of opening fire outside Wrigley Field held without bail
- How the OJ Simpson saga became a unique American moment
- Benteler Steel plans $21 million expansion, will create 49 jobs
- Tycoon Truong My Lan's death sentence is a turning point for Vietnam
- Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment fails in acrimonious end to legislative session
- First attempt to catch orphaned orca calf in Canadian lagoon is unsuccessful
Popular articles
Recommended
Hilarious moment mother asks her Cocker Spaniel to help choose her lottery numbers
US and Philippines step up strategic partnership as China threats loom in South China Sea
Jill Biden calls Trump a 'bully' who is 'dangerous' to LGBTQ people
Heavy rain across Kauai prompts rescues from floodwater, but no immediate reports of injuries
Ravens sign WR Qadir Ismail, the son of former NFL receiver Qadry Ismail
Maine governor signs bill restricting paramilitary training in response to neo
Mexico, a leading producer of illicit fentanyl, can't get enough for medical use, study finds
The Masters updates: Tiger Woods set out to make more history
Links
- South China theater festival to showcase outstanding classics
- Nostalgic murals help village paint a future
- Canadian gov't announces plan to solve national housing crisis
- Giants rally with 3 runs in 7th to beat NL
- China to launch inspection on improving business environment
- Chinese vice president meets Cambodian King, Queen Mother
- Belarus, Azerbaijan to strengthen bilateral cooperation
- China's Q1 foreign trade surge signals economic upturn
- Netflix's '3 Body Problem' promotes Chinese culture despite controversy
- Israel vows 'appropriate response' if Iran attacks its territory