Shiretoko National Park UNESCO World Heritage Site, (知床国立公園, Shiretoko Kokuritsu Kōen), Shiretoko is known by the First Nations people of Japan, the Ainu as “sir etok” in English, a high peninsula. It is a sublimely beautiful region to visit and for those fortunate enough to call home. I have spent over 25 years exploring and photographing in the region, which is known worldwide for its abundant wildlife, beautiful landscapes, and heavenly golden hours, but it’s isolated with a couple of dirt roads, and route 334 is only open in summer, and even then it’s a sketchy road to navigate. Shiretoko is almost exclusively accessible by boat or hiking trails; it’s a region where proper survival gear is a must; once you enter, you are in the deep backcountry, and this is why there are dozens of tour and workshop operators offering the wildlife, scenery viewing experience of a ‘lifetime .’ Unforgivably and sadly, safety is not always on every leader’s mind or in their resume of experience. These days, we are overrun with tour operators and ‘pro’ photography workshop leaders lacking leadership experience, especially in emergencies or in rough weather situations, and cannot forecast what’s around the next corner or bend because they’ve never experienced it. They spend a week or two scouting a region and think that will be good enough, WoW. They believe they are good to go, but I guarantee most don’t even carry a satellite phone or check Japan’s official weather service. Most leaders use weather apps, such as google weather that updates its forecast a few times a day from Japan’s official weather service, these apps do not accurately forecast local fast-moving weather systems, and the services are IT automated and based on the other side of the planet, just reading Japan’s official weather service data. Also, these newbies and probably many photography pro workshop leaders do not carry a proper first-aid kit, double WoW.

So why did 54-year-old Captain Noriyuki Toyoda of the Kazu I, newly hired to Shiretoko Yuransen Tours, who was trained to operate lake boats, risk going out? #1, the tour companies president Seiichi Katsurada admitted in the news conference that he ordered him to go to sea.  As a pro-Hokkaido photography workshop leader, and with international borders closed for two years, the only reasons I can think of are no international tourists and a lack of business.  Also, this was Shiretoko Pleasure Cruise’s first cruise of the spring season, the Kazu 1 had a seating capacity of 64, but on this cold spring day, 24 souls boarded, plus the captain and one ship’s hand. I heard from local reports there were supposed to be more participants on board, but several persons canceled after reading or hearing the weather forecast or possibly being warned by locals; these persons do not wish to be named at this time.  

Only Shiretoko Yuransen Tours were open, and all other boat tour agencies had not started their spring season yet. Furthermore, it is highly likely that Captian Noriyuki Toyoda had been power harassed by the president of Shiretoko Pleasure Boat tours to run the tour. In the coming days, criminal charges may be brought against the boat’s operator Seiichi Katsurada on charges of professional negligence resulting in death as well as endangering naval traffic due to negligence.

Tragedy struck at about 1 pm when they were due to return to port. The Kazu 1 called in an SOS just after 1 pm while viewing Kashuni waterfall, and the Japan coast guard replied it was sending support.  Waves were 3 meters high (10 feet), and the Kazu I was taking on water, apparently with a stalled engine along a coastline that is notorious for being a challenging location to maneuver because of strong winds, high waves, and powerful tides, making it next to impossible to make an emergency landing due to the shoreline being jagged and steep.  At around 3 pm, the captain called in and said his boat was about to sink; that was the last word from the Kazu 1, and all 26 souls have not been heard from again.  On April 29th the 19-ton Kazu 1 was located by the Maritime Self-Defense Force.  The boat was found at a depth of around 100 meters near the Kashuni Falls, with no survivors to date.

Hokkaido is well known for us locals helping each other with flat tires, stuck vehicles, or other mishaps. When Kazu I was sinking and called in for a rescue, there were no civilian boats/fishing boats in the region to help. On a daily basis, when there are blue skies and fair winds, dozens of boats are in the region, within minutes of where the Kazu 1 sent its distress signal from and sank, the Kashuni waterfall. If the sea conditions were acceptable for any boat to be out along the Shiretoko west coastline, and there were fishing or tour boats in the area, then there would have been assistance there in minutes.  Rescue by helicopter in high waves and strong winds in the region is an extremely high risk to the aircrew, and Ocean currents are high risk even for elite rescue swimmers especially during storms.  Just mind-boggling, it took roughly two hours for the boat to sink and no help. Oh, those poor souls. Who’s actually to blame here?  As an ex-rescue specialist and lifelong explorer, I prefer to mitigate rescues myself and always do my best to avoid any situation that would warrant a call to emergency services, especially when in isolated backcountry regions, such as in Shiretoko National Park.  Knowing aircraft and boats are highly likely to be on a rescue mission in a different area during rough weather and typhoons, and highly experienced rescue teams are few in number.  Also, there is a high probability that rescue will be impossibly late as with the Kazu I.  And to date, I am thankful I have never needed to call emergency services on the countless expeditions I have led.

Currently, the Japanese Transport Ministry is busily looking into the matter, and I do not expect any noteworthy news developments. Businesses that rely on open borders and tourists have all felt the effects of closed borders, and we are all looking forward to resuming our regular business activities. Japan’s borders, I believe, will reopen in late summer or autumn. And priority #1 for me is and always has been the safety of my clients and my team; when participants join me on any of my fully inclusive business class photography workshops, such as my all-inclusive Hokkaido Photo Tour, I take to heart they are putting their wellbeing in my hands. From the moment I pick them up until I drop them off at their next destination, their safety is the first thing on my mind.

I, too, have experienced power harassment while in the field several times, but I have thick skin and can brush it off quickly. One such event was during my annual Hokkaido photo tour; we were photographing the Red-Crowned Cranes, and we had planned on photographing them till 2 pm, then drive to Akanko and booking into our 5-star lodgings, but at 11 am, I announced to participants, my team, and my co-leader to pack up, we were leaving in 15 minutes, due to an incoming weather system. Everyone looked puzzled, especially my co-leader, on his first visit to Japan, who triple-checked his iPhone several times, and made some rash comments.  Still, I put my foot down and got everyone in the vehicles; participants were checking their phones, and their weather reports forecasted blue skies for the day. “Not to pat myself on the back,” but, thankfully, I was leading this expedition that day, and with my 25 years of reading the high wind Spindrifts blasting of the mountains in our region, I knew a storm was quickly brewing. Ninety minutes later, as we drove into Akanko, and the snow started falling with reduced visibility and the winds picking up, I looked at my co-leader and asked, “What does your phone say the weather is now?” His reply, “Turning cloudy with a possibility of snow flurries.” “Darn it,” I said, “Look around; we are in a blizzard, not living in the virtual world!” I never ran another workshop with that person or his agency.  With a client I would never take that tone, I would explain my reasoning as I did the evening with clients during dinner, who thanked me for my foresight.

Whenever I hear about disasters in Hokkaido or anywhere, I’m reminded of my personal experiences making judgment calls regarding cruises in the same region on my annual Hokkaido birding photo workshop tour. As you see in the image above attached to this newsletter, on the day I was there leading my photo tour, the seas were rough and getting rougher, but boats were still going out to photograph the Steller’s Sea Eagles in Shiretoko National Park; I was concerned about the hourly weather. Our vessel’s captain, who is a long-time friend, looked over weather charts with me, and after we talked it over, I made a last-minute cancellation. My clients were upset with me as other boats were going out to photograph the raptors. After returning to our lodgings, later that evening, during a particularly quiet dinner, there was an announcement that ships were stranded in the pack-ice. Suddenly, everyone understood and appreciated my dedication to safety. And the second time something similar happened on my annual Hokkaido Photo Tour, I knew what the conditions on the water would be, so I canceled on behalf of my participants for their safety and as I made plans for the next phase of our Hokkaido adventure, those boats returned to dock after being at sea for only 30 minutes with sick and shaken passengers. High waves and rough seas were bouncing the passengers around the ship as if they were in a pinball machine, so the boat captains finally made the right decision and brought their battered passengers back to dry land.

I am so tired of seeing senseless tragedies unfold, and I often warn people to triple-check that they are traveling with experienced and safe local businesses, tour operators, photo workshop leaders, or anyone taking responsibility for the safety of others leading an adventure. There are several I know that are 100% unsafe, as they have only spent a week or two or less in Hokkaido scouting for photo tours; there is even one on the Fstoppers photography site who has his itinerary listed by Google maps for a mid-winter photo tour of Hokkaido, and he adds he is going to drive clients around Hokkaido mid-winter. And in his itinerary, he has two roads that are absolutely 100% closed in the winter; those roads are only open for a few months in the summer. These are roads I have driven in summer, and even then, they are challenging and rough; in winter, snow machines don’t even test these roads. So I know this person has never driven any of these roads, and he is not an experienced explorer. He may be a kind and friendly person, but being kind and friendly does not mean being safe.  Fstoppers, in my opinion, should only be used to share your photography, possibly learn tutorial techniques, and what gear fits your type of photography. As for photography tours and workshops, I always recommend you travel with a local adventurer who knows the region you will be visiting like the back of their hand, and not someone who spent a few days visiting/scouting. Photography workshops and tours in all shapes and forms should be educational and friendly, but safety is paramount.  My prayers and condolences go out to the families and friends of the Kazu I.