Not sure if this is the best place as it is very niche but might as well try.
I’m taking nature photos and I want to go into the mouth of a river about 400 meters or so from a bay in Iwate. There are reeds, it’s not deep, very little flow, about 3 meters max from edge and I have the gear/knowledge to go safely( as far as water, tides and flow goes) into the water. I just don’t know if there are stingrays or sharks that I need to worry about. I often see wakes of fish but no bodies. I will do more research on my own but curious if anyone has any knowledge of this. I’ve lived on the Great Lakes of the US and lots of experience on the coast of Florida but Iwate is very different
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Dont know about Iwate specifically but there have been accounts of shark attacks in various areas of japan on surfers. So slightly offshore. It seems reasonable to assume that after heavy rains sharks miiiiiiight drop by river mouths to see if any tasty ex-wildlife got washed downstream. So I would urge caution just in case. But if you’re waist deep I would think shark attack unlikely. Might just nibble your toe a bit
Just assume if it’s a body of water connected to the ocean then there could be any ocean dwelling creature in it. They kinda go where they want. They don’t go “oh that’s a Japanese river, let’s not go up that”, If they’re in the Ocean, they can go up the mouth of the rivers
Sharks are fine in brackish water and they can easily swim in shallow waters. You also have stuff like lionfish etc.
No one can guarantee it, but it’s unlikely you would encounter sharks in the shallows and just watch your step for stingrays. The ハブクラゲ (box/viper jellyfish) might be more of a danger at this time of year.
Lots of sharks in Japanese waters, great whites included
The ones you should worry about are the giant catfish big enough to cause earthquakes.