How top predators are affected by environmental changes in the seasonal sea ice zone

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25870008
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Environmental dynamic analysis; Aquatic bioproduction science
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: MITANI Yoko 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): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 高次捕食者 / 季節回遊 / 環境変動

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We conducted ship-based marine mammal sighting surveys and passive acoustic monitoring to detect marine mammal vocalizations along the Okhotsk Sea coast of Hokkaido and Nemuro Strait, the seasonal sea ice zone. Our results show that presence or absence of seasonal sea ice in these areas affects the pattern of marine mammal species occurrence. And satellite tracking of rehabilitated juvenile spotted seals revealed that the seal tracked in summer showed site fidelity to haul-out site. Whereas in winter, when seasonal sea ice appears around Hokkaido, the seals haul-out on the ice, where concentration derived from satellite remote sensing is lower than 50% to rest.

Free Research Field

海洋生物環境学