Title Life Along the Water’s Edge: Lake Shinji and Lake Nakaumi

  • Tottori
  • Shimane
Topic(s):
$SETTINGS_DB.genreMap.get($item) National Parks/Quasi-National Parks Public Works & Institutions (Museums, etc.)
Medium/Media of Use:
App, QR code, etc.
Text Length:
≤250 Words
FY Prepared:
2019
Associated Tourism Board:
Daisen-Oki National Park

島根の水辺の生きもの:宍道湖と中海


宍道湖と中海は島根と鳥取の県境近郊にある 2 つの大きな湖である。9,200 ヘクタールにわたる中海は日本で 5 番目に大きな湖で、8,000 ヘクタールの宍道湖は 7 番目に大きい。2つの湖と、これらとつながる斐伊川や大橋川などの主要な川周辺の水場は、日本でも屈指の渡り鳥の聖地だ。毎年冬になると 5 万羽以上の鳥たちがここを訪れ、宍道湖のみでも 240 種類を超える鳥が記録されている。この地域は湿地の保存に関する国際条約であるラムサール条約で 2005 年に保護地区に指定された。

渡り鳥の一部は島根の県鳥であるハクチョウだ。オオハクチョウとコハクチョウの両方が日本での越冬地としては最西端に位置するこの湖で冬を過ごす。2 つの湖で見られる鴨類で最も多いのがスズガモだ。スズガモはシジミやゴカイを求めて宍道湖に潜る様子が見られる中程度の大きさの鴨だ。類似のキンクロハジロもよく沿岸に群れている。キンクロハジロのオスは背中の黒味が強く、後頭の羽毛が伸びていることからスズガモのオスと見分けがつく。

宍道湖に流れ込む斐伊川の砂州には、特にガチョウが多くみられる。ヒシクイとマガンもここで越冬する。マガンは過剰な狩りにより絶滅の危機にあり、1971 年に天然記念物に指定された。


Life Along the Water’s Edge: Lake Shinji and Lake Nakaumi


Lake Shinji and Lake Nakaumi are two large lakes near the prefectural border of Shimane and Tottori. Spanning 9,200 hectares, Lake Nakaumi is Japan’s fifth-largest body of water, and Lake Shinji, at 8,000 hectares, is its seventh largest. The wetland habitats around both lakes—as well as the major rivers that connect with them, such as the Hii and Ōhashi—are among Japan’s leading sanctuaries for migratory waterfowl. More than 50,000 birds winter there each year, and over 240 species of birds have been recorded near Lake Shinji alone. In 2005, the areas were protected under the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty for wetland conservation.

A small portion of the migrant visitors are swans, the official bird of Shimane. Both whooper swans and Asian tundra swans spend their winters on the lake, the farthest west that they can be seen in Japan. Of the duck species that can be seen at the lakes, the greater scaup is most common. Scaups are a medium-sized diving duck that can be seen darting under the waters of Lake Shinji in search of basket clams or ragworms. A similar species, the tufted duck, is often found in great flocks along the coast. Tufted duck males can be distinguished from scaup males by the darker coloration of their backs and a short crest that hangs from the rear of their heads.

Geese are particularly numerous along the sandbars where the Hii River empties into Lake Shinji. The bean goose and the greater white-fronted goose both spend their winters there. The greater white-fronted goose was designated a National Natural Monument in 1971 after overhunting almost completely wiped out the local population.


Search