Iriomote Island

From Openwaterpedia

Iriomote Island (or 西表島 or Iriomote-jima) is the largest of the Yaeyama Islands and the second largest in Okinawa Prefecture after Okinawa Island itself. The total population is less than 2,000, and infrastructure is limited to a single coastal road connecting the hamlets on the northern and eastern shores. The island does not have an airstrip, and most visitors arrive from Ishigaki by ferry.

Iriomote has a tropical rainforest climate. The average annual rainfall of Iriomote is around 2,500mm. Iriomote has a typhoon season that, on average, runs from June to September.

90% of the island is covered by dense jungle and mangrove swamps. 80% of the island is protected state land, and 34.3% of the island forms the Iriomote National Park. The highest point on the island is Mt. Komi (古見岳 Komidake) at 470 meters. Around 21 km northwest (24.558°N 124.00°E) of Iriomote is an active undersea volcano which last erupted in 1924; the summit is 200 m below sea level.

The island is famed for the Iriomote Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis), a Critically Endangered wild cat found only on Iriomote. The population size is estimated to be fewer than 250 adult individuals. In Japanese the cat is called 西表山猫 Iriomote-yamaneko.

The island, together with the rest of Okinawa Prefecture, remained a US-controlled territory until 1972. Iriomote was returned to Japan on 17 June 1972.

Steven Munatones swam between Iriomote Island, Ishigaki Island and Taketomi Island in 1994 for the first time.

External links

• The Coastal Framework Of Copacabana Beach
• The Shark Diver Controversy In Ocean Swimming