I heard about the typhoon and bleaching event the past year, but I've never witnessed such a crazy crashout so fast. I was snorkeling last year in May and I just went today. It's so bad…what. To the point where I feel bad for all the tours and scuba divers wasting money, time and supply here.
Amuro-jima was better than this and I imagine it was even better last year.
Edit: Ty for the replies. Sad to see, hopefully a nice cold and nutrient rich typhoon will happen soon and not toss around the corals. It's now what used to be a colorful painting, smeared with brown within a year. So much changes in one year, wow. Feels like a sad snorkeling spot in Hawaii.
From one of my replies, I will also note from experience that whenever I see blue-green, hints of black beard and Turbinaria ornata algae, I can confidently say that the ecosystem has fully crashed out. All tours need to stop and the marine biologists from (maybe Churaumi Aquarium?) need to 100% step in
Another edit: After reading some more comments. Tokyo+Ogasawara/Chichi+jima it is next year! Though I made some staff friends at restaurants, so I think I'll still make time for another annual trip.
by Budilicious3