Fish Watching at Miyakejima

The last day at Mikurajima Island was a beautiful sunny day. We sailed to Miyakejima, the volcanic island about an hour away by ferry.



三宅島へ。



Although Miyakejima is a famous island for birdwatching because of its endemic species, we spent most of the time in the sea. Early September is not a good time for watching birds.

I tried to sketch a lot with a snorkel and learn about beautiful fishes.  Everything under water was new to me!  

富賀浜のテーブルサンゴとツノダシ。このテーブル状になる造礁サンゴはミドリイシ属らしい。
Moorish idols at Togahama beach, where table corals grow.   

　




チョウチョウウオ、タカハノダイ（左）。ゴイシウミヘビとオヤビッチャ（右）。
タカハノダイの尾びれの水玉模様がすてきだ。
The YUPO paper I use for sketching underwater is really great but it has one big problem.  I can not use watercolour with it while the scenery in the water is such a perfect subject for painting with brush and lots of water.

But I came up with a brilliant idea!  I simply copied the drawing onto a piece of watercolour paper.  I only have a inkjet printer so I had to trace a few lines with a pencil.  But it seems to be working well so far.  It was actually what Ruchi was doing when she had to practice colouring for several times for one perfect piece.  

By copying the original sketches instead of drawing them again on white paper, I feel that I can keep the freshness of the sketches.  The beauty and the importance of sketching in the field is, I think, capturing the scene and movement fresh.  A work from the field somehow has the atmosphere and character that often disappears when we make a fine final work in the studio.     

　

三宅島２日目は、１、２年前から島に住んでいる友達が土方海岸に連れて行ってくれて、いろいろ教えてくれた。わたしの見たままに描いたスケッチを見て、上のチョウチョウウオは成魚で、下のは幼魚だね、と彼女。背びれの後ろの端に黒い斑があるのが幼魚らしい。タカラガイの仲間も見つけてくれた（右の絵の下）。シュノーケリングでのスケッチは、波に少しずつ流されて自分の位置が変わってしまうので難しい！

水面すれすれのところをオキザヨリが泳いでいた。下ではアオヤガラがじっとしている。

最後はおしゃれなミサキカフェでお昼ご飯。11時半の開店を待つ間、沖原海岸から海を眺めた。アオウミガメがときおり顔を出す。バックには珍しく雲のかかっていない御蔵島。 すてきな時間をありがとう！