Roadside station Kihocho Umigame-park — Local services in Kiho

Absolutely appalling conditions here. Apparently these turtles were taken from the wild and meant to be released again, however they concreted the original beach where the turtles came to nest. In fear that no turtles would ever return they kept these turtles in the facility.

The turtles here are heartbreaking to see. They are kept in black water and mouldy tanks, some of which are meant for goldfish, not wild sea turtles who travel tens of thousands of miles in their lifetime. You can see the sadness in the animals here. We were told that a few years ago the piping broke that flushed sea water into the tanks, this has made conditions worse. On top of that they sell pellets to feed to the turtles, tourists just throw the pellets at the turtles and many don't eat them as they are not a part of their diet as herbivores, so they end up just adding to the sludge in the tanks.

Something needs to be done about this facility. We tried in our short time in Japan, however no help or offers of new equipment would be accepted. We will...

This was a pretty fun tourist stop because it was free, and had some enjoyable local food options, but there wasn't much to it, and the treatment of some of the animals seemed a bit questionable. Definitely something I would look more into. It is fun for some pictures to...

ウミガメさんだけじゃなくて、色々な種類の亀さんがいてちょっとした水族館✨しかも入館料は無料なの( ˊ̱˂˃ˋ̱ )すごく大きな剥製のウミガメさんがいておチビは恐竜と勘違いしてた…w

普段、水族館に行っても亀さんは１〜２匹くらいしか見たことないおチビは、色々な種類の亀に大歓喜で…wしかも！亀さん達のプールの横に亀グッズのお土産売場があって、そこで亀さんにあげるご飯が買えるの！（数量限定） 亀さんへの餌やりは500円（この日は白菜だった🥬） 餌やりできる亀さんと出来ない亀さんがいてるので、亀さんの水槽の前の注意書きをよく読んでね！

もちろん道の駅なので亀さん達だけじゃなく地元のお土産も 買えるし、食堂もあって色々と楽しめる道の駅でした( ˊ̱˂˃ˋ̱ ) この時期は、紀宝町の特産品のみかん商品が盛りだくさん！ 色々な種類のみかんの食べ比べもできてよかったなぁ🍊 買う前に試食できると好きな味がわかるし嬉しいよね✨ あと、さんま寿司がゆず風味で美味しかったです！

ここは、夏にきたら海も近いしもっと楽しめそう！

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道の駅　紀宝町ウミガメ公園

三重県南牟婁郡紀宝町井田568-7 tel....