Marine Systems of the Ryukyus

Given the natural resources of Okinawa, and to make best use of the research resources at OIST, the Marine Biophysics Unit has been conducting field studies, backed up with lab experiments and numerical modeling. The primary focus of this project is to understand the marine systems around the Ryukyus islands. As well as studying local marine systems, members of the Marine Biophysics Unit are actively engaging with the public to introduce them to these systems through laboratory demonstrations, classroom activities and guided fieldwork to promote marine conservation research.

Aacantharians – a type of plankton – are too small to be seen with the naked eye, but under the microscope their beautiful shapes and structures are revealed. Figure from Mars Brisbin et al., 2020.

The Wave Glider is a next-generation oceanographic observation robot. It can take measurements that were not possible before, such as observing ocean parameters inside typhoons in real time.

Project Lead

Satoshi Mitarai, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Marine Biophysics Unit

Project Collaborators

Internal collaborators

• Evan Economo (Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit, OIST)
• Yoshiteru Iinuma (Instrumental Analysis Section, OIST)
• External collaborators
• Scott M. Gallager (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
• Francis K. C. Hui (Australian National University)
• Haruko Kurihara (University of the Ryukyus)
• Lisa Y. Mesrop (University of Southern California, Los Angeles)
• James C. McWilliams (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Masaya Morita (University of the Ryukyus)

External Collaborators

• Scott M. Gallager (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
• Francis K. C. Hui (Australian National University)
• Haruko Kurihara (University of the Ryukyus)
• Lisa Y. Mesrop (University of Southern California, Los Angeles)
• James C. McWilliams (University of California, Los Angeles)
• Masaya Morita (University of the Ryukyus)

Project Publications

• P.-S. Chuang, K. Ishikawa, S. Mitarai, Morphological and genetic recovery of coral polyps after bail-out. Front. Mar. Sci. 8 (2021), doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.609287.
• M. Mars Brisbin, A. E. Conover, S. Mitarai, Influence of Regional Oceanography and Hydrothermal Activity on Protist Diversity and Community Structure in the Okinawa Trough. Microb. Ecol. (2020), doi:10.1007/s00248-020-01583-w.
• M. Le Gal, S. Mitarai, Reef influence quantification in light of the 1771 Meiwa tsunami. Ocean Coast. Manag. 195, 105248 (2020).

Links to Related Resources

• Wave Griding in the Eye of the Storm https://eos.org/research-spotlights/wave-gliding-in-the-eye-of-the-storm https://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2013/8/15/oister-goes-out-sea
• Extreme Storms Cause Nearshore Subtropical Bacterial Communities https://sfam.org.uk/knowledge/microbiologist-magazine.html
• Surviving Typhoons https://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2015/1/7/surviving-typhoons
• Symbiotic Plankton: Providers or Parasites? https://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2018/5/21/symbiotic-plankton-providers-or-parasites