Development of an event detecting system using animal-borne data loggers

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25660152
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Aquatic bioproduction science
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: SATO Katsufumi 東京大学, 大気海洋研究所, 教授 (50300695)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: バイオロギング / 画像 / 加速度 / マンボウ / マッコウクジラ / 深海ザメ / データロガー / 速度

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Combination of animal-borne cameras and accelerometers revealed the secret lives of cryptic aquatic animals.1) Ocean sunfish: the evidences of foraging siphonophores in deep water and behavioral thermoregulation of ocean sunfish were empirically demonstrated.2) Sperm whale: image of suspended material, possibly squid ink, were associated with bursts of swim speed. These images, likely derived during chasing prey, support the hypothesis that sperm whales actively hunt to capture prey.3) Deep-sea shark: two species of deep-sea sharks showed similar duel vertical migrations: they swam at depth of 200-300 m at night and deeper than 500 m during the day. During vertical movements, all sharks showed higher swimming efforts during descent than ascent to maintain a given swimming speed, and were able to glide uphill for extended periods, indicating that these sharks are in fact positively buoyant in their natural habitats.

Free Research Field

行動生態学