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Shiretoko NP, Hokkaido
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At 44°N, Shiretoko lies south of Bordeaux and Venice—yet it is the Northern Hemisphere’s southernmost coast reached by drift ice. Puyuni is among the first nearby places to spot its arrival.
The ice below is more than winter scenery: as it melts, nutrients fuel a phytoplankton bloom, feeding plankton and fish. Salmon carry that ocean energy upriver, where eagles and bears feed—and nutrients reach the forest.
On November 10, 2008, rangers counted about 30 eagles in 20 minutes and 60 more during a later 40-minute watch from Puyuni. Most were Steller’s sea eagles, gliding on rising air along the cliffs.
Since 1996, Shiretoko Nature Center has tracked drift ice from Puyuni. Automated cameras now capture daily views, which staff check to catch the season’s first ice—a local watch on a sea that never holds still.
