Tokyo Bay has turned into Oyster Bay — and it’s wreaking havoc on a key Olympic venue.
Tens of thousands of pounds of mollusks were found clinging to floats at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay, which is set to host rowing and canoeing events for the upcoming Summer Games, the BBC reported.
The floats are set up to stop waves from crashing back across the water onto athletes, but the shellfish had caused the equipment to start sinking, the outlet reported.
“It would be unacceptable if they sink,” a Tokyo official told the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.
Organizers were forced to hire divers and bring the floats ashore for emergency repairs in what was a $1.28 million operation.
The process resulted in the removal of more than 30,000 pounds of magaki oysters, which are considered a popular delicacy in Japan, the outlet reported.
City officials, however, fear that the oysters will return to the site again after the Games.
The municipal government is currently considering a proposal to electrolyze the seawater to prevent the creatures from attaching themselves to the equipment, the outlet reported.