Mikomotojima Shirane

Shirane (白根) is on the east side of Mikomoto Island off Shimoda, southern Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka, 16 minutes by boat; the ebb has little effect but the flood brings strong current. The terrain is gentle with large reefs scattered across it, the biggest being Oki no Shirane, whose top sits 2–3 m below the surface with a base at 20 m; maximum depth 23 m, average around 15 m, from novice level, with current. Takabe, chicken grunt, surgeonfish, largescale blackfish, sweepers, cardinalfish, anemonefish and parrotfish crowd the reefs, flounder, angel sharks, Asian sheepshead wrasse and rays rest on the sand, schools of yellowtail run along the tide line to the north, and near Oka no Shirane the scattered remains of an old wreck, including a large hull section, shelter small fish.