We found THIS on a beach in Japan – We were speechless / Pelagic Goose Barnacles

We found THIS on a beach in Japan – We were speechless / Pelagic Goose Barnacles

The beach is beautiful, but it’s so, so dirty.
But that’s not a Japanese thing. That’s a every beach in the world thing. Pretty much everywhere 
– same thing. It’s a people thing. Welcome. [Music] Today’s dot was the Takise coast 
located on the Oshima Peninsula in southern Hokkaido. We were on our way to visit 
the majestic landscape of Shirafura, known as the white sloping land. These wide, 
rugged cliffs that tower above the sea are a natural wonder often referred to as Japan’s 
seven sisters. We’re 24 m above sea level, which means that in case of a tsunami, we’re 
good. I think. To admire their beauty, we first had to make our way down to the beach. But as 
we got closer, things took an unexpected turn. [Music] It’s a beautiful place, but at the same time 
it’s kind of sad because it’s so dirty. Garbage everywhere. Garbage. I don’t know if you 
can see it on camera, but it’s just all over. But we found this beautiful 
arch that can only be accessed during low tide. We are so lucky. It’s low tide. 
We get to go into the little arch. At least some of us. Some of us 
are just going to go around. Okay. Welcome. 300 million years old. Actually, the arch is only 400 years old. The geological layers of the cliffs were exposed around 300 million 
years ago. And then strangely sculpted rocks formed over time through weathering and erosion. 
But the arch is man-made. It was excavated around 400 years ago when Otobe town thrived as a center 
for herring fishing. And fishermen needed a land route through the cliffs which blocked access to 
the sea. [Music] Oo, nice and cool. Shirafura Japan’s seven sisters. In the Aino language, the 
name Shirafura translates to white slope. And these white cliffs resemble the seven sisters, 
the iconic chalk cliffs on the English Channel coast in England. The cliffs are formed from a 
mixture of shellfish remnants, volcanic sediments and diatoms. Standing over 15 m tall and 500 
m in length, they are a rare natural site in Japan. See these rocks? Okay, these ones are 
stuck, right? But up there, we don’t know. Wow. I don’t know if we should be 
standing here. It’s like the Great Wall of Japan. It looks like this 
part fell from up there. [Music] Rock. And roll. Not so comfortable walking. But it’s nice to be in the shade. 
Yeah, the shade is nice. But the beach, it’s like a dump. That’s sad. Yeah. It’s a pity 
that it’s so dirty. I mean, the beach is beautiful, but it’s so, so 
dirty. But that’s not a Japanese thing. It’s an every beach in the world thing, 
pretty much everywhere – same thing. [Music] It’s a people thing. But one of the good things 
about it is that we can look for treasures in  the trash. There’s a saying, one man’s trash 
is another man’s treasure or woman’s. And so we’ve been searching. We haven’t found anything 
yet. But who knows. Maybe. Maybe. We’ll just keep walking and see what we find.  There’s an 
osprey. Oh yeah. Osprey.  That’s a treasure. It flew by. Even though the beach was 
dirty, the water was crystal clear. The sea was alive and the waves were its breath. Breathing 
in and out. We came across hundreds of pelagic gooseeneck barnacles who had floated onto the 
beach with the sea’s breath. They’re the most common rafting organisms found in the open ocean 
and they get around by attaching their flexible stalks to floating timber and other flotsam.
Once they attach themselves to a hard surface, they never let go. That’s quite a commitment when 
choosing their forever home. The barnacles that we found today were attached to driftwood. However, 
as the world’s oceans have become more polluted, they now also attach to various plastic 
objects floating in the water. What does  a pelagic gooseeneck barnacle have in common 
with a goose? Well, until the 18th century, before people knew that birds migrate, 
it was believed that a species of goose, called barnacle goose, actually came from pelagic 
gooseeneck barnacles. Namely that the geese were born directly from shells attached to driftwood. 
People believed this because they couldn’t find their nests and eggs. Even though today we 
know that barnacle geese spend their winters in Europe and breed in the Arctic, so no wonder 
people couldn’t find their nests back in the day, the two organisms have remained connected 
through their name. What a beautifully strange world. Good night sweet pelagic  gooseneck 
barnacles. Good night world. Today was a mixture of marvel and sadness. But tomorrow 
is a new day. We can all do our own small part so that one morning the waking sun will 
shed its light on a clean world once again. Everywhere. It’s here. The whole beach 
is just filled with – Is that Is that a butterfly? Yeah, huge butterfly. Oh my 
gosh, that’s such a big butterfly. Wow! It looks like a bird. Yeah. Let’s try to get it on
camera. Feels nice. The warmth on the back. Oh, there’s a butterfly. One of those big 
ones. I don’t think you can see it though. Oh, what a beautiful world…

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In today’s travel vlog we’re bringing a dot on the map of northern Japan – the Takise Coast – to life!
We explore the wild beauty of Hokkaido’s Takise Coast and the striking Shirafura cliffs – Japan’s Seven Sisters. What starts as a peaceful hike down to the beach turns into an eye-opening look at how trash and pollution affect even the most beautiful places.

Come along for an honest travel vlog in Japan that shows both the breathtaking scenery and the challenges facing coastlines around the world. Along the way, we find an arch, learn about the cliffs’ 300-million-year history, spot ospreys, and even discover pelagic goose barnacles washed ashore.

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