Perhaps the gods are angry. Water is pouring from the skies over Okinawa in a seemingly endless torrent. Typhoon Lupit has arrived late in the year, but it is making up for the delay by turning the island’s roads into rivers, by lashing trees in all directions and by turning narrow lanes into wind-tunnels.
Normally idyllic beaches are deserted, ferries to outlying islands are cancelled and umbrellas are the order of the day – the trick being to keep a firm grip with both hands if caught in a particularly savage gust or to see your miniature roof instantly eviscerated.
It is, however, an ill wind that blows nobody any good. On a rain-slapped quayside near the village of Onna, Lupit’s arrival has coincided with plans for coral planting. In the short term, that’s bad news; divers going out to do the job are having to cope with violently rocking boats and rapid underwater currents, but in the long term it could be the difference between life and death for the island’s coral reefs.
Buffeted by the wind, Yoshimi Higu, an advisor at the Japanese government fishing association, says: ‘If the water is warmer than 30°C for three or four years, then coral dies off. Perhaps 90 per cent of the world’s coral died in 1998, because of the El Niño storms. Around 25 per cent of marine life relies on coral, so mortality at that kind of level is extremely worrying.’
Later, we brave the elements to venture out into Onna’s sheltered bay in a glass-bottomed boat. As we rock disconcertingly in the swell, brightly coloured fish flit past above dead, bleached coral and recently planted seedlings.
Okinawa needs the latter to flourish and this typhoon could help. Its rains and storms should help reduce local sea temperatures and hopefully give the young coral a fighting chance.
I watched a documentary movie about this. It is really amazing to know that many of them reach the age of 90s and they are still physically fit.