ÅŒmura Bay

Landsat image of Omura Bay

The Omura Bay (Japanese大村 湾, Omura - wan) is a bay of the East China Sea in the center of the Japanese Nagasaki Prefecture.

Geography

The bay measures in north-south direction and about 26 km in east-west direction is about 11 km. The coastline is 360 km, and the surface area 320 km ², which is about 8% of the total area of the prefecture. With an average of 14.8 m and a maximum of 54 m water depth, it is also relatively shallow for its size.

A special feature of the bay is that it is surrounded by all four directions of the country and therefore resembles a lake in shape. The only connection to the sea is in the northwest to the east, at its narrowest point is only 200 m wide, Hario Strait (针 尾 瀬 戸, Hario - seto ) and the West, 10 to 200 m wide, Haiki Strait (早 岐 瀬 戸, Haiki - seto ). On the opposite side is not followed then the open sea, but the Sasebo Bay (佐世保 湾). Between the two straits lies the island of Hario -jima (针 尾 岛), (西 彼 杵 半岛, Nishisonogi - Hanto ) and south of the foot of the mountain Kotonoo -dake (琴ノ尾岳) located throughout the west of the Omura Bay, the Nishisonogi Peninsula. Is the Omura - level (大村 平野, Omura heiya ), which is covered by the same city on the east coast.

This opposite is also the largest island within the bay, Mishima (箕 岛), on which the airport is Nagasaki and was heavily piled up for this purpose.

The communities along the bay are clockwise: Sasebo, Kawatana, Higashisonogi, Omura, Isahaya, Nagayo, Togitsu, Nagasaki and Saikai.

Biology

As a result called conditions, only a small water exchange with the sea, the bay has been inhabited by its own wildlife. So lives the rare Glattschweinswal, the long will not leave this all his life in the bay. Another special population is referred to as a living fossil horseshoe crab, the type Tachypleus tridentatus. Despite its seclusion and the large cities on the shore of the bay is full of fish and about 60 different marine species are fished.