SC/61/SH3

Summary of photo-id information of blue whales collected byJARPA/JARPA II and preliminary analysis of matches in thefeeding grounds
Koji Matsuoka and Luis A. Pastene
The Institute of Cetacean Research, 4-5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0055 Japan
Contact e-mail: matsuoka@cetacean.jp

KEYWORDS: BLUE WHALE; PHOTO-ID; ANTARCTIC; SCIENTIFIC PERMITS
ABSTRACTThis paper summarizes the information on photo-identification of blue whales obtained by JARPA/JARPA II surveys
in Antarctic Areas IIIE, IV, V and VIW during the austral summer seasons from 1992/93 to 2008/09. There are a totalof 476 pictures of blue whales in the photo-id catalogue held by the Institute of Cetacean Research, which wereselected from the total obtained. All of the pictures were digitized to facilitate archiving. A preliminary matching
exercise within the feeding ground resulted in a single match. Within the 2005/06 season a whale first sighted in Area
III at position 65o49S, 63o00E on 12 Jan. 2006 was re-sighted in Area IV at position 65o44S, 76o31E on 1st Feb. 2006.
The distance between the first and second sightings was 334n.miles and the average distance per day was 17n.miles.
Analyses of photographs collected during the JARPA/JARPA II have the potential to contribute to a better
understanding of the pattern of movement and residence of blue whales in the feeding grounds. This information canbe optimized if these photographs are examined in conjunction with photographs from other surveys and regions.
Pictures of blue whales from JARPA/JARPA II will be provided to the IWC catalogue under conditions specified inthis paper.
INTRODUCTION
The IWC Scientific Committee (IWC SC) has been conducting an in-depth assessment of Southern Hemisphere bluewhales (Balaenoptera musculus) since 2006. For this assessment individual identification of whales throughphotographs of natural marks (photo-id) has been considered an important tool for studying aspects of distribution,movement and abundance of whales. During the 2008 IWC SC meeting Olson (2008) summarized the photo-id
photographs obtained during 19 IDCR/SOWER surveys in the Antarctic management Areas I-VI. A total of 21,000
photographs were collected in those surveys representing a minimum of 311 individual blue whales. During thediscussion of this paper the SC recommended that blue whale photographs collected during JARPA surveys be
examined and integrated into the IWC catalogue, once such examination has been completed by Japanese scientists(IWC, 2009).
During the JARPA and JARPA II surveys in Areas IIIE, IV, V and VIW, photo-id experiments on blue, humpback andright whales have been conducted on an opportunistic basis. A summary of the photographs obtained between theaustral summer seasons 1989/90-2004/05 was provided during the JARPA review meeting carried out by the IWC
SC in 2006 (IWC, 2008). Photographs of the humpback whales taken during JARPA surveys were submitted to theIWC Antarctic Catalogue administrated by the College of the Atlantic. Those photographs were compared with1

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photographs from other regions of the Southern Hemisphere. Several matches were found between whales in Eastern
Australia and Antarctic Area V (Rock et al., 2006). Photographs of the southern right whales taken during JARPA
surveys were compared with others obtained in Australian waters and a match was reported between a whale inAdelaide and Antarctic Area IV (Bannister et al., 1999).
The objective of this paper is to summarize the photographs of blue whales taken during the JARPA and JARPA II
surveys in Antarctic Areas IIIE, IV, V and VIW following a recommendation from the IWC SC in 2008. Results of apreliminary analysis showing a match of an individual whale within the Antarctic feeding grounds is also presented.
COLLECTION OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Pictures of natural marks of blue whales were taken during the systematic line transect sighting survey for abundance
estimation and random sampling of Antarctic minke whales under the JARPA/JARPA II. Details of the survey
procedure for JARPA surveys from the 1987/88 to the 2004/05 austral summer seasons can be found in Nishiwaki etal. (2006). On an opportunistic basis the dedicated sighting vessel (SV) and the sighting and sampling vessels (SSV)
approached blue whales for conducting experiments on photo ID. When possible the same whale was also sampled forskin biopsy. Researchers onboard the vessels focused on natural marks of the animals such as scars, dorsal fin withparticular shape and the mottled pigmentation pattern of the whale.
Surveys were conducted in IWC Management Areas IIIE, IV, V and VIW during the austral summer seasons(December-March). From the 1992/93 to the 2004/05 seasons photos were taken using 35mm SLR databack cameras
equipped with 70-up to 300mm lenses and motor drive. Black and white 400 ASA film (Ilford HP5) was used. Fromthe 2005/06 season a digital Nikon 70D cameras equipped with 100-300mm lens was used. To facilitate archiving,
pictures taken from 1992/93 to 2004/05 were digitized.
After each summer season the best pictures were selected (LAP for the pictures taken between 1992/93 and 2004/05
and KM for the pictures taken from 2005/06) and these pictures were entered into the Institute of Cetacean Research(ICR) catalogue. The selected pictures are summarized in this paper.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table 1 summarizes the results of the photo-ID experiments in JARPA and JARPA II. A total of 476 photographs
were selected from those taken during the 1992/93 to 2008/09 seasons (17 seasons). The numbers of photographs by
IWC Management Area are 154, 154, 118 and 50 in Areas IIIE, IV, V and VIW, respectively. The JARPA set involves
a maximum of 68 individuals and biopsy samples were obtained from 13 of those individuals.
Natural marks in the ICR photo-id catalogue include mottled pigmentation of the body, shape of the dorsal fin plus
mottled pigmentation and shape of dorsal fin. The proportions of these marks in the JARPA set are 86%, 11% and 3%,respectively. Currently the photographs of the mottled pigmentation of the body are being grouped according thecharacterization of Sears et al. (1990).
A very preliminary matching exercise resulted in a single match (Table 2, Figures 1 and 2). Within the 2005/06 season
a whale was first sighted in Area III at position 65o49S, 63o00E on 12 Jan. 2006. The estimated body length of thewhale was 26.8m. The same whale was sighted in Area IV at position 65o44S, 76o31E on 1st Feb. 2006. Researchers
estimated the body size in 26.1m and got a biopsy sample so the sex of the animal can be determined in the near futureusing molecular techniques. The distance between the first and second sightings was 334n.miles. The time between
sightings was 20 days and the average distance per day was 17n.miles (Figure 3).

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Analyses of photographs collected during the JARPA/JARPA II have the potential to contribute to a better
understanding of the pattern of movement and residence of blue whales in the feeding grounds. This information canbe optimized if these photographs are examined in conjunction with photographs from other surveys (e.g.
IDCR/SOWER) and regions.
Availability of blue whale photographs from JARPA and JARPA II
In response to the request from the IWC SC (IWC, 2009), digital versions of the photographs of blue whales taken by
JARPA and JARPA II in Areas IIIE, IV, V and VIW will be submitted to the IWC catalogue under the following
conditions:a)Photographs summarized in Table 1 will be submitted to the IWC Secretariat only with the ID number usedin the ICR catalogue and information of the contact person (KM). If a match with photographs from othersources in the IWC catalogue is made, colleagues should contact KM to negotiate the terms of any researchand paper emerging from the match following IWC SC data access Procedure B; see ICR protocol for data
request on the following web site:
http://www.iwcoffice.org/_documents/sci_com/DataAvailability/DAprotocolJapan.pdfb) Upon agreement, detailed information on location, date of the sighting and other ancillary information will beprovided.
c) Japanese scientists have started analyzing for matches within the feeding grounds using the JARPA andJARPA II photographs, and this effort will continue in the following years. Japanese scientists reserve theright to lead any research and paper emerging from matches in the feeding ground involving exclusively
JARPA and JARPA II photographs.

ACKNOWLEDEGMENTS
We thank the captains, crew members and researchers for their effort in collecting photo-id data of blue whales during
the JARPA and JARPA II surveys.
REFERENCES
Bannister, J.L., Pastene, L. A. and Burnell, S. R., 1999. First record of movement of a southern right whale(Eubalaena Australis) between warm water breeding grounds and the Antarctic Ocean, south of 60oS. Mar. Mammal
Sci. 15 (4): 1337-1342.
International Whaling Commission. 2008. Report of the Intersessional Workshop to Review Data and Results fromSpecial Permit Research on Minke Whales in the Antarctic, Tokyo 4-8 December 2006. J. Cetacean. Res. Manage.
(Suppl.) 10: 411-445.
International Whaling Commission. 2009. Report of the Sub-Committee on Other Southern Hemisphere Whale Stocks.
J. Cetacean Res. Manage. (in press).
Olson, P.A. 2008. Status of blue whale photo-identification from IWC IDCR/SOWER cruises 1987-1988 to2007-2008. 7pp. IWC Paper SC/60/SH29. [Available from the Office of this Journal].
Rock, J., Pastene, L.A., Kaufman,G., Forestell, P., Matsuoka, K. and Allen, 2006. A note on East Australia Group V
Stock humpback whale movement between feeding and breeding areas based on photo-identification. J. Cetacean
Res. Manage. 8(3):301-305.
Sears, R., Williamson, J.M., Wenzel, F.W., Berube, M., Gendron, D. and Jones, P. 1990. Photographic identificationof the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada. Rep. int. Whal. Commn (SpecialIssue 12): 335-342.

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Table 1. Number of blue whale photographs taken during JARPA and JARPA II surveys by IWC Management Areasand austral summer season.
IWC AreasSurveySeason

JARPA

JARPA II

Number of photographs
IIIEIVV

VIW

1992/930033033

1993/9409009

1994/95

0016016

1995/967300101996/97006281997/98

1400

5

1998/9900

21021

1999/00

22

60028

2000/01

00000

2001/0205005

2002/03000

66

2003/04

54009

2004/05000

33

2005/06

59

113

00

172

2006/07

00

18

018

2007/0860

1000702008/09

00

24

39

63

Total

154

154

118

50476

Table 2. Match of a blue whale in the 2005/06 season, as revealed by photo-identification.

Whale-ID

IWC AreaDateschool size

LatitudeLongitude

III20060112

265 49So

63 00E

IV20060201

2ooDistance
betweensightings(n.miles)Averageminimum
distance(n.miles/day)

20334

17oBl069
65 44S

Timebetweensightings(days)

76 31E4

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Figure 1. Whale Bl069 sighted in Area III on 12 January 2006. The whale was identified by the particular shape of thedorsal fin.

Figure 2. Whale Bl069 sighted in Area IV on 1 February 2006. The whale was identified by the particular shape of thedorsal fin.

Figure 3. The movement of a re-sighted blue whale between Area III and Area IV in the austral summer season
2005/2006.

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