SC/F14/J10

Biological observations of fin whales sampled by JARPAII
in the Antarctic
TOSHIHIRO MOGOE1, TAKEHARU BANDO1, HIKARI MAEDA2, HIDEHIRO KATO3 AND SEIJI OHSUMI1
1

Institute of Cetacean Research, 4-5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0055, Japan
National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama, Kanagawa 2368648, Japan
3
Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 5-7 Konan 4, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8477, Japan
Contact e-mail: mogoe@cetacean.jp
2

ABSTRACTThe aim for the sampling of fin whales under JARPAII is the investigation of temporal trend in some biologicalparameters, as well the acquirement of feeding ecology information as input parameters for the ecosystemmodelling work. For the reason given in SC/F14/J1 the number of fin whales sampled in the first period wassmaller than the originally planned so that the utility of these samples for the objectives mentioned above is still
limited. This paper presents new biological information of 17 Antarctic fin whales sampled by JARPAII in thefirst period (2005/06-2010/11). The information summarized in this paper is on body proportion, reproductive
status, age/length relationship, body length/body weight relationship and ecological markers (external parasites).
For some parameters comparisons were made with data of the commercial whaling period in the Antarctic which
stopped some 36 years ago. The main results were that body weight of whales in the JARPAII period is heavier
than those previously reported for the Antarctic in the 1950’s. Further, results suggested the possibility thatwhales are reaching sexual maturity at younger ages. These results are consistent with the increasing abundancetrend observed for this species in recent decades. The biological analyses based on JARPAII were based on
small sample sizes. Further biological sample and data from this species will be needed to confirm the results
found in this study.
KEYWORDS: ANTARCTIC, BIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS, COMMERCIAL WHALING, FIN WHALE,SCIENTIFIC PERMITSINTRODUCTION
The fin whale, Balaenoptera physalus (Linnaeus, 1758) is one of the main component of the Antarctic
ecosystem, and it had been a main target species of the whaling industry during the 20th century as same as theblue whale, Balaenoptera musculus and the humpback whale, Megaptera novaeangliae. By the adoption of the
New Management Procedure (NMP) all stocks of the southern fin whale were classified as protected stocks in
1976 (IWC, 1977) by the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and that ban has continued up to now.
More than 30 years have passed since the ban of whaling on this whale species and the population has been
increasing at annual rates of 13-16% as estimated by the JARPA survey in Areas III East to VI West from theseason 1987/1988 (Matsuoka et al, 2005; Matsuoka et al, 2006). The information on the biological parameters
can improve the rational management of whale resources. The change in some biological parameters such as
pregnancy rate, sexual maturity rate, and age at sexual maturity with the change of abundance of stocks has been
revealed on some whale species (Gambell, 1973; Kato, 1986). However, temporal change in these biologicalparameters has not been studied for 36 years in the Antarctic fin whales, because the biological sampling has notbeen carried out due to the ban of catch of this whale species since 1977.
Based on the result of JARPA, the Government of Japan planned the JARPAII in 2005, and the fin whale wasadded as target species with the Antarctic minke whale, Balaenoptera bonaerensis and humpback whale. The
objective of the sampling of fin whales aims to investigate the temporal trend in some biological parameters as
one of the means to monitor the Antarctic ecosystem (Government of Japan, 2005).
In this paper we report the biological information collected from fin whales sampled by JARPAII between
2005/2006 and 2010/2011. In some cases we compare the biological information from JARPAII with thatobtained by Japanese commercial whaling during late 1940s to early 1950s.

1SC/F14/J10

MATERIALS AND METHOD
Samples
A total of 17 fin whales were sampled between the 2005/06 and the 2010/11 seasons. Catch records andbiological data of the whales sampled are shown in Table 1. The catch positions are shown in Figure 1.
Among them, the body weight of one individual (0506F001) was not measured because of some technicalreasons. Another individual (0607F001) was lost before landing on the flensing deck of the research base vessel
Nisshin-maru. For this reason measurements could not be obtained for this individual.
Biological data from JARPAII
External measurements
The external measurements in 16 whales were conducted based on protocols from earlier reports for fin whales(Mackintosh and Wheeler, 1929; Laws, 1961), and modified by the Institute of Cetacean Research. Figure 2
shows the external measurements points. Body length was defined as the body axes length from the tip of snout
to notch of flukes in parallel to the plane of the deck.
Ventral grooves
The number of ventral grooves was counted following Williamson (1973).
Body weight
Body weights were measured for a total 15 whales by summing of all body parts using electronic hanging scale(maximum capacity of 30t) and marine scale (M1100, Marel, Iceland). In females, both ovaries were removed
and weighted. In males, testes were removed and weighted of both sides, separately. The gonads weight wasmeasured by using the electronic marine scale (S-182, Marel, Iceland).
FoetusesThree individuals (0506F002, 0506F003 and 0607F003) were pregnant. Their foetuses were measured andsampled as same as other adult whales.
Marine diatom
As a quantitative measurement of attached marine diatom in the whale body, five categories were madefollowing Omura (1950).
Parasites
Observation of internal/external parasites was carried out.
Definition of sexual maturity
The sexual maturity of the female was determined by the presence of corpus luteum or corpus albicans in either
ovary. In the case where no corpus luteum or corpus albicans was observed in both ovaries, the female wascategorized as sexually immature. Conversely, if either corpus luteum or corpus albicans was observed in ovaries,
the female was categorized as sexually mature. The counting of the corpus luteum and corpus albicans was not
carried out because the ovary samples were lost after the earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. The malesexual maturity was determined by the weight of one side of testis. In the case of one side of testis is over 2.5kg,
the whale was determined as sexually mature (Ohsumi, 1964).
Age determination
The age of a whale was determined by the counting of growth layers in the earplugs (Purves, 1955; Ohsumi,
1964; Lockyer, 1972; Maeda et al, 2013). The left and right earplugs with glove-finger were collected carefullyusing scalpel, and immediately fixed in 10% formalin solution until age determination. After slicing the surfaceof earplugs by use of whetstone along on the rim of ear plug until layers were recognized, the layer of earplug
were counted using stereoscopic microscope under low magnification (3.15x-31.5x). One pair of the light anddark laminae in the core of earplug corresponds to one year, according to an evidence by Ohumi (1964) and
optimized histochemical method of Maeda et al (2013).
Comparative analyses with commercial samples
JARPAII data were compared with some published Japanese commercial whaling data obtained duringcommercial whaling operations in the Antarctic in late 1940s and early 1950s. The number of samples used forthe comparative analysis was summarized in Table 2. The following items were compared:

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SC/F14/J10

Body proportion
The mean values (±SD) of JARPAII were calculated and compared through plotting data on the normalized axis
using data of Japanese commercial whaling data.
Body and organ weights
The relationship was evaluated by applying single nonlinear regression. The following formula was used
(Lockyer, 1976):
Body weight (t) = a Body length (m) b
The coefficient of a and b were estimated by the least-squares method. Further comparison between body lengthand body part weights were carried out using 34 commercial whaling data of Japan. These data were calculated
on mean (±SD) value in each class of 1m body length.
In order to check whether there are differences in reproductive condition, we compared the relationship of gonad
weight and body length using the same data from body parts weight.
Relationship between body length or age and sexual maturity
To calculate the growth of fin whale and the frequency of sexual maturity, we conducted typical univariate
descriptive analysis. In order to investigate the correlation between sexual maturity and body length or age
variables, we used t-tests for continuous variables (body length values or age values). The body length or age of
fin whale variables significantly associated with sexual maturity (p<0.05) were entered into a logistic regression
model to assess the relative contributions, although there are various estimation methods (Cooke, 1984). For
body length sampled in JARPAII, there was no significant regression coefficient in logistic model (p=0.09). We
estimated logistic regression model on only commercial whaling data in seasons 1949/1950s, 1950/1951s, and1951/1952s by sex. Also about the relationship between age and sexual maturity, same method is applying andtesting the logistic regression analysis using the data obtained in JARPAII and season 1956/1957 (Nishiwaki etal, 1958). Each formula of logistic regression model was used:
1 1

1

1 1

2 2

0

2 2

･･･

0

p: predicted value, x: independent variable, e: base of natural logarithm, β: parameter.
RESULTS
Biological information from JARPAII
Sex ratio and body weight
Summary of the catch composition in JARPAII is shown in Table 1. Of 17 whales sampled nine were females
and eight were males (male sex ratio: 0.47). Mean body weight was 46.02tons (SD: 10.47). The maximum andminimum weights for females were 65.02tons and 22.26tons, respectively. The maximum and minimum weights
for males were 51.62tons and 34.20tons, respectively.
Sexual maturity
Sexual maturity rate was 50.0% (4/8) and 62.5% (5/8) for female and males, respectively. The three pregnant
whales had a single foetus, and a single corpus luteum existed on one ovary. During the dissection of all female
whales, no milk was found in the mammary glands. As shown in Table 1, body lengths of foetuses were
280.7cm (female), 127.5cm (male) 243.4cm (male). Body weights of foetuses were 172.0kg (female), 19.95kg(male) and 141.0kg (male). These foetuses were of normal development from gross appearance.
Ventral grooves
The mean number of ventral grooves was 67 (SD:10) in males and 69 (SD: 5) in females, respectively.
Marine diatom
In most cases diatom film was recognized on the surface of the whale body (14 of 16 whales). Adhesions ofdiatom films were more densely observed in males than females (categories ++ and +++ in Table 3).
Parasites
Table 4 shows the frequency of parasites observed. The most observed sessile organisms on the skin of fin
whales were Cyamus (44.0%). 75.0% of males and 12.5% of females had Cyamus on the ventral grooves. Chi-

3

SC/F14/J10

square test revealed that the percentage of attachments of Cyamus significantly differed by sex (p<0.05). Both
Pennella and Conchoderma were not observed. Coronula sp. was observed in males and females with a same
percentage.
Internal parasites were not observed in the stomachs of 16 fin whales. Unidentified parasites were observed in
the Gastroepiploic.
Comparative analyses
Average body length
Mean body length in JARPAII for females was 19.05m (SD: 1.92) (maximum and minimum lengths were
21.15m and 14.79m, respectively). Mean body length in JARPAII for males was 18.96m (SD: 0.87) (maximum
and minimum lengths were 20.67m and 18.61m, respectively).
Body length (m) of each fin whale sampled in JARPAII is plotted in Figure 3 with annual mean length and ±SDof fin whales captured in Antarctic pelagic whaling during the periods 1930/1931-1975/1976. It is difficult tocompare the data between the commercial and JARPAII, because there was a regulation for size limit of 70 feet
(21.34m) for the fin whale in pelagic commercial whaling. On the other hand, there is a technical reason not totake more than 20m in estimated body length in JARPAII. It is found from Figure 3 that there is a trend to
decrease the average body length in the years of commercial whaling periods.
Body proportion
The mean value and body proportion of the external measurements of JARPAII by sex is summarised in Table 5.
Figure 4 shows the comparison of the body proportions between JARPAII and the normalized axis using the dataof Japanese commercial whaling (seasons from 1948/1949 to 1950/1951). As shown in this table, no differenceof variation of proportion was seen between the sexes except for the reproductive aperture (e.g. measurement
point 13). Figure 4 shows the relationship between the deviations of JARPAII data that covers the external
portion of 15 measurement locations as items that can be compared, with corresponding to commercial whaling
data. JARPAII data are smaller than Japanese commercial whaling data in many parts in both sexes. In the lengthin Points 7, 14, and 21 of males in JARPA, males are larger than commercial whaling data. Females are larger
than males in many points. Excepting for sex difference, dorsal fin is higher, and the skull is shorter thancommercial whaling data. This trend was particularly pronounced in males.
Relationship between body length and body weight
Figure 5 shows the relationship between body length and body weight for JARPAII and commercial fin whales.
Calculated coefficients a and b in the formula are a=0.005394±0.005329 and b=3.068448±0.332619 in JARPAII,
and a=0.044530±0.027880 and b=2.315830±0.205040 in commercial data. From the graph, predicted bodyweights of fin whale captured in JARPAII tend to be heavier than that of the commercial whaling for the same
body length.
Figure 6 shows the relationship between body length and gonad weight. The relationship is very similar between
JARPAII and commercial fin whales.
Tables 6a-b and 7a-b, and Figure 7 show the mean weights of each body part of fin whale, by body length.
Figure 7 show that the parts weight increase with body length. This increase is more pronounced in the case of
the JARPAII whales for blubber (Figure 7b) and meat (Figure 7c). For bones and viscera the increase pattern issimilar between JARPAII and commercial whales.
Relationship between body length and sexual maturity
Figure 8 shows the relationship between body length and maturity rate of fin whales sampled by commercial
whaling during the seasons 1949/1950, 1950/1951, and 1951/1952, for female and males. JARPAII samples areplotted in both immature (0 rate) and mature (1.0 rate) individuals. Immature individuals of JARPAII ranged
from 14.79m to 19.35m (17.61-19.17m in males, 14.79-19.35m in females). Mature individuals ranged from18.73m to 21.15m (18.73-20.67m in male, 19.47-21.15m in female respectively).
It is estimated that the body length at 50% sexual maturity is 18.99m (18.69m in male and 19.90m in female) incommercial whaling. Regression coefficient between sexual maturity and body length of JARPAII did not reachstatistical significance, possibly due to the small sample size. From the plotting, JARPAII data were equallydistributed besides the rise of predicted probability of maturity rate in commercial whaling data except for
immature one (body length=14.79m).

4SC/F14/J10

Relationship between age and sexual maturity
Figure 9 shows the relationship between age and sexual maturity rate of fin whales sampled by JARPAII andcommercial whaling during the season 1956/1957, for both sexes combined. Immature individuals of JARPAII
ranged from 6 to 9 years old, and mature individuals ranged from 7 to 22 years old. It is estimated that the 50%
sexual maturity age are 8.8 years old in JARPAII and 11.0 years old in commercial whaling, respectively. The
minimum age of pregnant whale obtained in JARPAII was 10 years old. Age at 50% sexual maturity of JARPAII
is 2.2 years younger than Japanese commercial whaling data.
DISCUSSION
This study provided new biological information of fin whales in the Antarctic after 36 years. Although thenumber of whales examined was small some new and interesting results such as body proportion and parasites
were obtained. During the commercial whaling period only large whales were taken. During the JARPAII survey
there was the opportunity of sampling small animals for the first time. In fact the smallest whale was a 14.79m
whale and several biological data were obtained from this whale. The limitation of JARPAII, however, was foranimals larger than 20.0m which usually were not sampled because technical difficulties.
Body length / body weight and partial weights relationships
It was found that Antarctic fin whales collected by JARPAII are heavier than those taken by commercial whaling
in the 1950s. This might suggest that the feeding condition for the Antarctic fin whale has improved in recent
years. It was also found that the relative weights of the blubber and the meat are heavier for fin whales sampled
by JARPAII (Figure 7). The increase in body weight of fin whales, particularly in weight of meat and blubber,might indicate faster growth which was derived from better nutritional condition in recent years.
Body length and age at sexual maturity
There is the possibility that the age at sexual maturity of the fin whale has decreased in the 2000s. Decline in theage at sexual maturity in whales in response to substantial decrease in the abundance (for example due to overexploitation) has been reported for sei and fin whales in part of the Indian Ocean and the Antarctic Ocean, andfor fin whales in the northwest Pacific Ocean (Gambell, 1973; Lockyer, 1979; Ohsumi, 1986). Our study
provided evidence that the age at sexual maturity of fin whales sampled by JARPAII has decreased about 2.2
years from the 1950s.
The number of pregnant whales among the fin whales sampled by JARPAII was three out of four matured
whales (75.0%). This high pregnancy rate was similar to the 1970s (Gambell, 1973).
All these evidences suggest improved nutritional conditions of the fin whales in recent years. The biologicalstudies based on JARPAII were based on small sample sizes. Further biological sample and data from thisspecies will be needed to confirm the results found in this study.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Hiroshi Hatanaka, Luis A. Pastene, Tsutomu Tamura, Tomio
Miyashita, and Toshiya Kishiro for their kind comments on our draft. We also express our gratitude to the crew
members who were carried out JARPAII surveys for steady working on board of the vessels for their excellent
technical assistance. All research vessels were provided by the Kyodo-senpaku Co., Ltd. (Tokyo, Japan). We are
grateful for the persons who have been related to these researches. This research was supported by the Ministryof Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Japan.
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Table 1
Catch records and biological data of the fin whales in the JARPAII during the seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011.
Serial No.

Catch date

Catch position

Sex

LatitudeLongitudeooSexual maturity

Body length

Body weight

Age

(m)

(t)

(yrs.)
1

Foetus sex

Foetus body

Remarks

length (cm)0506F001

3 February 2006

65 44S71 38E

Male

Immature

19.17

No data

90506F002

8 February 2006

65o54S78o06E

FemaleMature

20.05

53.48

11

Male

127.5

Pregnant

9 February 2006o

65 48So

78 07E

FemaleMature

19.47

52.05

12

Female280.7

Pregnant

10 February 2006o

65 37So

78 13E

Male

Mature

18.73

41.87

22

13 February 2006o

65 22So

82 00E

Male

Mature

19.14

47.28

11

0506F006

14 February 2006o

65 10So

81 59E

FemaleImmature

19.15

47.04

9

0506F007

7 March 2006

64o34S

111o51E

FemaleMature

20.22

61.52

7

0506F008

9 March 2006

64o53S

114o06E

FemaleImmature

18.22

41.06

7

10 March 2006o

64 48So

114 14E

Male

Immature

18.3

42.27

6

13 March 2006o

65 36So120 30E

FemaleImmature

19.35

47.24

8

0607F001

3 January 2007o

63 53So170 44W

FemaleNo data

No data

No data

No data

No data

No dataTorn off2

0607F002

5 January 2007

62o35S

174o17W

Male

Mature

20.67

51.62

11

2 February 2007o

68 46So

173 41W

FemaleMature

21.15

65.02

10

Male

243.4

Pregnant

13 March 2009o

65 38So

165 08E

FemaleImmature

14.79

22.26

6

3 February 2010o

66 08So

62 32E

Male

Immature

17.61

34.2

6

1011F001

7 January 2011o

63 28So

175 40W

Male

Mature

19.05

39.63

12

1011F002

20 January 2011

66o39S

165o32E

Male

Mature

18.99

43.78

10

0506F003
0506F004
0506F005

0506F009
0506F010

0607F003
0809F001
0910F001

1

The body weight was not measured.

2

Most of the body was torn off by accident during the pulling up to the flensing deck of Nisshin-maru.

8SC/F14/J10

Table 2Comparison of data used in this study.
Analysis items

Body proportion

Body length and weight

Organ weight

Body length and gonad weight

Body length and maturity

JARPAII

Commercial whaling

Samples

Samples

Whaling season

Source16

16

1948/1949

Fujino, 1954

6

1949/1950

Fujino, 19545

1950/1951

Fujino, 1954

16

1947/1948

Nishiwaki, 1950

13

1948/1949

Nishiwaki, 19505

1950/1951

Ohno and Fujino, 1952

16

15

16

16

16

1947/1948

Nishiwaki, 1950

13

1948/1949

Nishiwaki, 19505

1950/1951

Ohno and Fujino, 1952

16

1947/1948

Nishiwaki, 1950

13

1948/1949

Nishiwaki, 19505

1950/1951

Ohno and Fujino, 1952

437

1949/1950

Mizue and Murata, 1951

2,049

1950/1951

Ohno and Fujino, 1952

2,583

1951/1952

Kakuwa et al, 1953

Age and maturity

16

288

1956/1957

Nishiwaki et al, 1958

Body length

16535,740

1930/1931-1975/1976

International whaling statistics

9SC/F14/J10

Table 3
The adhesion level of diatom films of the fin whale in the JARPAII during the seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011.
1

Female

Male

Total

-

2

0

2

±

0

0

0

+

6

6

12

++

0

2

2

+++

0

0

0

Total

8

8

16

Classification1-: not infected; ±: with thin film; +: with patched; ++: with thick film; +++: with thick film on whole body.

Table 4
Infection rate of external parasites and diatom films of the fin whales collected from JARPAII during the seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011.
Species

Male

FemaleTotal

No. of whales

No. of whales

No. of whales

infected/investigatedinfected/investigatedinfected/investigated(infected rate %)(infected rate %)(infected rate %)Cyamus

6/8 (75.0)

1/8 (12.5)

7/16 (43.8)

Coronula sp

1/8 (12.5)

1/8 (12.5)

2/16 (12.5)

Conchoderma sp

0/8 (0.0)

0/8 (0.0)

0/16 (0.0)

Pennella sp

0/8 (0.0)

0/8 (0.0)

0/16 (0.0)

Diatom film

8/8 (100.0)

6/8 (75.0)

14/16 (100.0)

10SC/F14/J10

Table 5The external body proportions of the fin whales in the JARPAII during the seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011.
Males

Females

Samples

Mean%BL

SamplesMean%BL

1. Body length (0.01m)

8

18.96

100.0

8

19.05

100.0

2. Projection of snout beyond tip of lower jaw (0.1cm)

4

9.9

0.5

6

7.2

0.4

3. Tip of snout to blow-hole (1cm)

8

344

18.2

8

353

18.5

4. Tip of snout to angle of gape (1cm)

8

365

19.2

8

371

19.5

5. Tip of snout to centre of eye (1cm)

8

372

19.6

8

382

20.1

6. Tip of snout to tip of flipper (1cm)

8

777

41.0

8

779

40.9

7. Centre of eye to centre of ear (0.1cm)

8

91.4

4.8

8

91.1

4.8

8. Notch of flukes to posterior emargination of dorsal fin (1cm)

8

429

22.6

8

435

22.8

9. Notch of flukes to root of flukes (1cm)

7

98

5.1

9

100

5.2

10. Notch of flukes to centre of anus (1cm)

8

535

28.2

8

532

27.9

11. Notch of flukes to umbilicus (1cm)

8

860

45.4

8

860

45.1

12. Notch of flukes to end of system of ventral grooves (1cm)

8

833

44.0

8

835

43.8

13. Centre of anus to centre of reproductive aperture (0.1cm)

8

131.3

6.9

8

59.0

3.1

14. Vertical height of dorsal fin (0.1cm)

8

47.9

2.5

8

45.0

2.4

15. Length of base of dorsal fin (0.1cm)

8

108.3

5.7

8

102.1

5.4

16. Axilla to tip of flipper (1cm)

8

149

7.9

8

151

7.9

17. Anterior end of lower border to tip of flipper (1cm)

8

230

12.1

8

230

12.1

18. Border length posterior end to tip of flipper (1cm)

8

237

12.5

8

236

12.4

19. Greatest width of flipper (0.1cm)

8

52.8

2.8

8

52.3

2.7

21. Skull width (0.1cm)

8

220.6

11.6

6

205.4

10.8

22. Skull length, condyle to tip of premaxilla (0.1cm)

8

464.5

24.5

8

475.6

25.0

23. Flipper length (from condyle to tip) (1cm)

8

239

12.6

5

245

12.9

25. Notch of flukes to tip of flukes (Left side) (1cm)

4

215

11.3

3

226

11.9

26. Tip of snout to centre of ear (1cm)

8

461

24.3

8

470

24.6

27. Tip of snout to centre of umbilicus (1cm)

8

1032

54.5

8

1056

55.4

28. Tip of snout to end of ventral grooves (1cm)

8

1061

56.0

8

1055

55.4

29. Tip of snout to center of reproductive aperture (1cm)

8

1227

64.7

8

1311

68.8

30. Tip of snout to anus (1cm)

8

1358

71.6

8

1370

71.9

31. Notch of flukes to reproductive aperture (1cm)

8

664

35.0

8

589

30.9

32. Tip of snout to center of reproductive aperture (1cm)

8

1460

77.0

8

1467

77.0

33. Width of flukes (1cm)

8

407

21.5

8

426

22.4

34. Chest circumference, half (1cm)

8

436

23.0

8

452

23.7

35. Abdominal circumference, half (1cm)

8

345

18.2

8

366

19.2

36. Buttock circumference, half (1cm)

8

260

13.7

8

277

14.5

37. Body height(posterior of dorsal fin) (0.1cm)

7

182.6

9.6

8

195.4

10.3

38. Body height(navel) (0.1cm)

8

246.6

13.0

8

254.8

13.4

39. Border length posterior end to tip of flipper (1cm)

8

154

8.1

8

156

8.2

Remarks. NA: not available the measurements; N: number of samples; %BL: percentage to body length; Mean: mean length.

11

SC/F14/J10

Table 6a
Average body parts weight (kg) of the fin whales in the JARPAII during the seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011.
Class of body

Samples1

length (m)(female / male)

Total parts weight

Blubber

Meat

Bone

Viscera and others

14.0 -

1 (1/0)21,982.0

5,505.8

10,700.8

2,783.2

2,992.2

17.0 -

1 (0/1)

33,996.0

7,779.1

17,080.4

4,879.5

4,257.1

18.0 -

4 (1/3)

41,837.1

10,317.3

20,463.3

5,370.9

5,685.6

19.0 -

5 (3/2)46,090.3

11,678.0

22,318.7

5,918.1

6,175.5

20.0 -

3 (2/1)

54,992.7

13,587.8

27,499.9

7,195.1

6,709.9

21.0 -

1 (1/0)63,999.3

16,745.8

31,439.0

7,287.7

8,526.8

Total

15 (8/7)

45,517.0

11,363.5

22,344.4

5,840.7

5,968.4

1

Total 15 out of 17 catches.

Table 6b
Percentage of body parts weight of the fin whales in the JARPAII during the seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011.
Class of body

Samples1

length (m)(female / male)

Total parts

Blubber

Meat

Bone

Viscera and others

14.0 -

1 (1/0)

100.0

25.0

48.7

12.7

13.6

17.0 -

1 (0/1)

100.0

22.9

50.2

14.4

12.5

18.0 -

4 (1/3)

100.0

24.7

48.9

12.8

13.6

19.0 -

5 (3/2)

100.0

25.3

48.5

12.8

13.4

20.0 -

3 (2/1)

100.0

24.7

50.0

13.1

12.2

21.0 -

1 (1/0)

100.0

26.2

49.1

11.4

13.3

Total

15 (8/7)

100.0

25.0

49.1

12.8

13.1

1

Total 15 out of 17 catches.

12SC/F14/J10

Table 7a
Average body parts weight (kg) of the fin whales in commercial whaling data during the seasons 1947/1948-1950/1951.
Class of body

Sampleslength (m)(female / male)

Total parts

Blubber

Meat

Bone

Viscera and others

17.0 -

1 (1/0)33,817.0

6,953.0

16,875.0

4,899.0

5,123.0

18.0 -

1 (1/0)37,367.0

8,270.0

18,391.0

5,906.04,800.0

19.0 -

5 (0/5)43,712.0

10,263.8

19,473.6

7,760.2

6,214.4

20.0 -

12 (6/6)

48,652.7

11,289.8

21,971.2

8,264.3

7,127.5

21.0 -

8 (8/0)55,629.7

12,761.0

25,914.0

8,856.8

8,098,022.0 -

6 (6/0)60,966.0

15,897.7

27,398.5

10,284.7

7,385.1

23.0 -

1 (1/0)57,487.6

13,319.0

24,093.0

9,132.0

10,943.6

Total

34 (23/11)

51,232.3

12,141.5

23,296.6

8,543.3

7,251.9

Table 7b
Percentage of body parts weight of the fin whales in commercial whaling data during the seasons 1947/1948-1950/1951.
Class of body

Sampleslength (m)(female / male)

Total parts weight

Blubber

Meat

Bone

Viscera and others

17.0 -

1(1/0)

100.0

20.5

49.9

14.5

15.1

18.0 -

1(1/0)

100.0

22.1

49.3

15.8

12.8

19.0 -

5(0/5)

100.0

23.5

44.5

17.8

14.2

20.0 -

12(6/6)

100.0

23.2

45.2

17.0

14.6

21.0 -

8(8/0)

100.0

22.9

46.6

15.9

14.6

22.0 -

6(6/0)

100.0

26.1

44.9

16.9

12.1

23.0 -

1(1/0)

100.0

23.2

41.9

15.9

19.0

Total

34(23/11)

100.0

23.7

45.4

16.7

14.2

13

SC/F14/J10

60°S
65°S

70°S
40°E

60°E

80°E

100°E

120°E

140°E

160°E

180°

160°W

Figure 1. Catch positions of the fin whales in the JARPAII (seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011). Closed circle: female; open circle: male.

Figure 2. Measurement points of external proportions of fin whale in the JARPAII. The number corresponds to row number is below keys.
1: total length; 2: lower jaw; projection beyond tip of snout; 3: tip of snout to blowhole; 4: tip of snout to angle of gape; 5: tip of snout tocentre of eye; 6: tip of snout to tip of flipper; 7: eye to ear; 8: notch of flukes to posterior emargination of dorsal fin; 9: flukes, width atinsertion; 10: notch of flukes to anus; 11: notch of flukes to umbilicus; 12: notch of flukes to end of ventral grooves; 13: anus toreproductive aperture; 14: dorsal fin, vertical height; 15: dorsal fin, length of base; 16: flipper, tip to axilla; 17: flipper, tip to anterior endof lower border; 18: flipper, length along curve of lower border; 19: flipper, greatest width; 20: not available; 21: skull, greatest width; 22:
skull length, condyle to tip of premaxilla; 23: flipper, tip to head of humerus; 24: not available; 25: flukes, notch to tip; 26: tip of snout tocentre of ear; 27: tip of snout to centre of umbilicus; 28: tip of snout to end of ventral grooves; 29: tip of snout to center of reproductive
aperture; 30: tip of snout to anus; 31: notch of flukes to center of reproductive aperture; 32: tip of snout to posterior emargination of dorsal
fin; 33: width of flukes; 34: girth of chest, half; 35: girth of abdominal, half; 36: girth of buttock, half; 37: body height of posterior of
dorsal fin; 38: body height of navel; 39: border length posterior end to tip of flipper.

14

SC/F14/J10

Body length (m)

22

20

18

16

14
1940

1960

1980

2000

Year
Figure 3. Yearly change in average body length of fin whale captured in Antarctic, pelagic commercial whaling (open circle: seasons
1930/1931-1975/1976) and the body lengths of fin whale sampled in JARPAII (closed circle: seasons 2005/2006-2010/2011). Verticalbars indicate plus/minus one standard error.

Measurement points

1
3
5
6
7
8
10
11
12
13
14
15
17
19
21
-2

-1

0

1

2

(μ j − μ c ) / σcFigure 4. Body proportions of the JARPAII sample (closed circles and solid line: male; open circle and broken line: female). The data areplotted on the normalized axis using the data of Japanese commercial whaling (seasons 1948/1949-1950/1951). Measurement point key
are shown in Figure 2. μj: mean value of JARPAII data; μc: mean value of the commercial whaling data; σc: standard deviation of thecommercial whaling data.

15

SC/F14/J10

70

Body weight (t)

60

50

40

30

20
14

16

18

20

22

24

Body length (m)Figure 5. Relationships between fin whale body length and body weight. Closed circles and solid line: JARPAII; open circles and broken
line: Japanese commercial whaling (Nishiwaki, 1950; Ohno and Fujino, 1952: seasons 1947/1948-1950/1951).

6

25

A

B

5
Testis weight (kg)

Ovary weight (kg)

20
4
3
2

15

10

1
5
0
14

16

18

20

22

24

14

Body length (m)

16

18

20

22

24

Body length (m)Figure 6. Relationship between body length and gonad weight. A: ovary weight; B: testes weight; closed circle: JARPAII; open circle:
Japanese commercial whaling (Nishiwaki, 1950; Ohno and Fujino, 1952: seasons 1947/1948-1950/1951).

16

SC/F14/J10

70

A

60
50
40
30
20
30

B

25
20
15
10
5
0
30

C

Weight (t)

25
20
15
10
5
0
30

D

25
20
15
10
5
0
30

E

25
20
15
10
5
0
14-

17-

18-

19-

20-

21-

22-

23-

Body length (m)Figure 7. Comparison of body parts weight between JARPAII (closed circle and solid line) and commercial whaling (open circle andbroken line: seasons 1947/1948-1950/1951). A: body weight; B: blubber; C: meat; D: bones; E: viscera and others.

17SC/F14/J10

1.0

Maturity rate

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
14

16

18

20

22

24

Body length (m)Figure 8. Relationship between body length and sexual maturity rate of the fin whales sampled by JARPAII (closed circle), and comparisonof that with that commercial whaling (broken line: female; dot line: male; seasons 1949/1950-1951/1952).

1.0

Maturity rate

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0
0

5

10

15

20

25

Age (Number of lamination)

Figure 9. Relationship between age and sexual maturity rate of the fin whales sampled by JARPAII (closed circle and solid line), andcomparison with that by commercial whaling (broken line: season 1956/1957).

18