Four Japs Paddle Their Way to Bikol Coastlines

A four-man team of Japanese Nationals will explore the Bikol coastlines using only their kayaks this May-June 2010. Dr. Kosako Yamaoka, 61 year old professor of Kochi University of Japan is the Team Leader of the group. "We will paddle our way from San Lorenzo beach in Tabaco City to San Miguel Island this May 13. Then we will stay in the island to have some interaction with the local fisherman. We want to learn from them something about their "kuyog," Prof. Yamaoka said in an interview.

The navigator of the team is Satoro Yahata, 35 years old and with a 10-year open sea kayaking experience. He has attempted to paddle solo from Cape York Australia to Japan in 2002. He has kayaked the wild seas of Indonesia, Malaysia and other parts of the world solo. A TV producer from Japan, Yo Ohnuki, 39 years old is the official documentation specialist of the group. He has with him highly sensitive video and still cameras all encased in underwater camera casings. The youngest in the team is Ryo Unten, 22-year old undergraduate student of Prof. Yamaoka. He will be using this experience as part of his thesis on fisheries sciences.

After a two-day stay in San Miguel island, the group will proceed to Catanduanes, then to the Caramoan in Camarines Sur, and end up to the fishing village in the town of Mercedes in Camarines Norte sometime on the 3^rd day of June. From Tabaco to Mercedes, they will be paddling about 370 kilometers of open sea only on their kayak.

The open sea kayak expedition is very important to the Japanese because of their continued study on the Kuroshio Science. According to Dr. Victor Soliman, who just finished his doctorate degree on Fish Ecology from Kochi University in Japan, this body of water is also very important to our country and Taiwan. The team will utilize or use the Kuroshio current as it appears in this time of the year and learn from this body of water the coastal habitat within the Bikol Region. Further studies and research will be conducted same time next year as they paddle further north of the Philippines. By 2012 the team plans to cross Taiwan from Batanes Group of Islands, then ultimately by 2014, they will be back to Japan paddling their way from Taiwan still using the flow of the Kuroshio current system (PING PERALTA/BU Extension News)