marimo | Public Parks

News Ticker

[ April 21, 2025 ] California state beach park selected to host 2028 Olympic surfing competition News Briefs
[ April 21, 2025 ] Bear warning issued for Colorado parks News Briefs
[ April 21, 2025 ] Japan’s “marimo” algae balls are in rapid decline Asia
[ April 21, 2025 ] National Park Week kicks off amid mass layoffs North America
[ April 21, 2025 ] Prehistoric animal footprints discovered at Oregon park North America

Lake Akan is the only home of Japan's marimo moss balls. Akan-Mashu National Park, Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan.

Japan’s “marimo” algae balls are in rapid decline

April 21, 2025

Japan’s famous marimo are in danger. Marimo are a unique and rare plants found only in a handful of places on Earth. The near perfectly spherical green balls are a species of free-floating and rolling […]

Marimo is a type of algae found in just a handful of lakes scattered across the world. Lake Akan in Hokkaido, Japan, is one of only four places on Earth where beautifully spherical marimo still occur naturally.

Researchers in Japan scramble to save one of the world’s weirdest plants

September 5, 2023

Scientists are scrambling to solve the mystery behind the steady disappearance of one of the world’s rarest and strangest plants. Marimo is a type of algae found in just a handful of lakes scattered across […]