NYK Sponsors Sea Turtle Research
Japanese shipping giant Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK Line) said that it has started a new approach to track loggerhead sea turtles (listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) in the Kishu Minabe Sea Turtle Research Project sponsored by NYK and conducted by the NPO Earthwatch Japan.Earthwatch, a non-profit organization established in 1971 in Boston, is an international nongovernmental organization. It provides researchers with both human and financial support for overseas field research and surveys."This research project is conducted at Minabecho in Wakayama prefecture, which is where most loggerhead sea turtles lay their eggs on the main island of Japan.
Tsunami-proof Breakwater Designed to Rise Up from Sea Bed
A Japanese consortium to build a Vertical Telescopic Breakwater (VTB), for Shimotsu Harbour. Obayashi Corporation, TOA Corporation, & Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Bridge & Steel Structures Engineering Co., Ltd. (MBE) a wholly owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI),will begin construction of a Vertical Telescopic Breakwater (VTB), a buoyancy-driven vertical piling breakwater, in the harbor at Shimotsu in Wakayama Prefecture. Construction is scheduled to begin in early October 2012. The breakwater system is designed to swiftly rise from the sea bottom in the event of tsunami, and contribute to prevention or mitigation of tsunami impact to harbors and coastal areas. When completed, it will be the first such movable steel pipe breakwater system in the world.
