Japan/Hokkaido: Marimo Algae in Lake Akan
And now for the bizarre and unusual – Marimo algae! Lake Akan is a volcanic caldera lake that is home to the unique and endemic Marimo algae (in Latin – Aegagropila linnaei). This algae grows into huge green balls that float near the lake’s bottom as if taken from some alien planet. In cuteness-obsessed Japan, Marimo algae balls are recognized as national treasure and are fiercely protected. To see the algae, you need to take a boat trip to an island in the middle of the lake Akan, where there is an observatory. Bizarre and surreal, these massive green balls are floating in a glass aquarium representing the lake’s bottom. Thanks to the thick glass, no contactual symbiosis between me and algae happened, otherwise the next post would have possibly started with the words “we are Venom”…..
