Research on the technique for finding coastal marine hotspot

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25660150
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Aquatic bioproduction science
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: WATANUKI Yutaka 北海道大学, 水産科学研究科(研究院), 教授 (40192819)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 食物連鎖 / 生態学的・生物学的重要海域 / 海鳥 / バイオロギング / 目視調査 / 1次生産

Outline of Final Research Achievements

To find biological hot spots in the coastal and shelf areas and analyze the forcing factors, GPS tracking of Streaked Shearwaters and the boat-based marine surveys were carried out in Tsugaru Strait in the autumn of 2013 and 2014. Topology and the current of this area seemed to affect small-scale marine physical structure. Chl-a maximum was observed around the depth of the thermocline off Cape Shiriya in both years, while index of fish density (38kHz SA) was not always associated with this chl-a maximum. The distribution of seabirds determined by boat survey did not always coincide with feeding sites determined with GPS tracking, and seemed to be related with the daily changes in the small-scale upwelling or fish schools chased by large predatory fish. These indicate that topology and behavior of large predatory fish could be important factors for structuring coastal hot spots. Integration of boat survey and seabird tracking should be further required.

Free Research Field

海洋生態学