Collection of identification photographs and call repertoire of killer whales off Hokkaido, northern Japan.

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K07227
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: Tokai University
• Principal Investigator: Ohizumi Hiroshi 東海大学, 海洋学部, 教授 (30366009)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 中原 史生 常磐大学, 総合政策学部, 教授 (10326811) ; 吉岡 基 三重大学, 生物資源学研究科, 教授 (30262992) ; 三谷 曜子 北海道大学, 北方生物圏フィールド科学センター, 准教授 (40538279)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: シャチ / 北海道 / 個体識別 / 鳴音 / 衛星標識 / 分布 / 集団構造

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We conducted research cruises for killer whales (Orcinus orca) off Kushiro and Rausu, eastern Hokkaido, northern Japan. A total of 380 individuals were identified and catalogued with photographs collected from 2007 to 2017, and 506 catalogued individuals in total were archived with previously known individuals. It was suggested that there are relatively independent killer whale aggregations in each area, because only a few individuals were common to both areas, there were some unique call types, the ranges of satellite-tagged whales were different between Rausu and Kushiro whales. The satellite-tagged individuals migrated to Kuril Islands and some even to the northwestern part of the North Pacific. Some relationship with the killer whales off the Russian coast was expected in call types. We found important habitat of the killer whale off the eastern Hokkaido, and established fundamental knowledge about their distribution and population structure.

Free Research Field

海洋生態学・海棲哺乳類学