THE INSTITUTE OF CETACEAN RESEARCH
4-5 TOYOMI-CHO, CHUO-KU, TOKYO 104-0055 JAPAN
PHONE: +81-3-3536-6521

FAX: +81-3536-6522

MEDIA RELEASE
September 1, 2014

Completion of the 2014 IWC/Japan Joint Cetacean Sighting Survey
Cruise in the North Pacific - IWC-POWER

1. BACKGROUND
The IWC/Japan Joint Cetacean Sighting Survey in the North Pacific, is a research
program commonly known as IWC-POWER: International Whaling CommissionPacific Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research.
IWC-POWER is based and applies the achievements, know-how and expertise acquired
during the most successful and highly appraised international collaborative research
effort conducted under the auspice of the IWC, the IWC-SOWER (InternationalWhaling Commission-Southern Ocean Whale and Ecosystem Research,
1996/1997-2009/2010) research program which ended in 2010.
The 2014 survey was the fifth cruise since IWC-POWER began in 2010. The researchplan of this program reflects the major research agenda of the IWC ScientificCommittee. During the first three cruises, a number of fin, sei and humpback whales
were sighted in the research area, where a large scale sighting survey had not been
conducted for more than a half century.

2. OUTLINE OF THE 2014 RESEARCH CRUISE
The IWC-POWER program is conducted collaboratively by the IWC and theGovernment of Japan. The IWC Scientific Committee has developed the research
program, and an actual survey cruise plan was jointly planned by associatedinstitutions such as the National Research Institute of Far Sea Fisheries (Fisheries
1Research Agency of Japan) and Alaska Fisheries Science Center (NOAA/NMFS,U.S.A.) under guidance of the IWC-POWER Steering Group (Convener, Dr. HidehiroKato, Professor of Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Japan), which
was established under auspice of the IWC Scientific Committee. The Institute ofCetacean Research, under the commission of the Fisheries Agency of Japan, hascompleted the survey cruise. Followings are summary of research cruise plan and its
results.
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2.2
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2.4

2.5
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2.7

Objectives(1) estimation of Bryde’s, sei and fin whales abundance (and other species wherepossible);(2) collection of information on stock structure, particularly biopsy samples, withpriority given to Bryde’s, sei, fin, humpback and sperm whales; and(3) collection of photo-identification data and biopsy samples for rare speciesencountered, especially North Pacific right whales and blue whales.
Research Cruise Period
From July 2, 2014 to August 30, 2014 (60 days).
Research Area (Fig. 1)
The research area is north of 30° N, south of 40°N, between longitudes 170° E and160°W (High Seas and US-EEZ).
International Researchers
Koji Matsuoka (Cruise leader, Institute of Cetacean Research, Japan)
Sally Mizroch (Researcher, Alaska Fisheries Science Center, National Oceanic andAtmospheric Administration (NOAA), USA)
Jessica Taylor (IWC nominated researcher, UK)
Isamu Yoshimura (IWC nominated researcher, Japan)
Research Vessel
Yushin-maru No.3 (742 ton, Captain: Yoshiyuki Yamauchi)
Total Distance Covered
3,762 nautical miles (about 6,967km)
Main whale sightings
Blue whale: 1 school; 1 animal
Sei whale: 1 school; 1 animal
Bryde’s whale: 118 schools; 140 animals
Sperm whale: 78 schools; 155 animals
Killer whale: 1 school; 3 animals
Risso’s dolphin: 8 schools; 140 animals
Striped dolphin: 5 schools; 420 animals
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Spotted dolphin: 6 schools; 436 animals
Common dolphin: 42 schools 1,747 animals
2.8 Results of sample collections etc.
(1) Photo identification data
Blue whale: 1 animal
Bryde’s whale: 69 animals
Killer whale: 3 animals
These photographs are valuable information to study life history and migration
patterns of each species.
(2) Collection of biopsy samples
Blue whale: 1 animal
Bryde’s whale: 78 animals
Killer whale: 1 animal
These samples will be used for examination of stock structure of each species.

Fig.1 Research area for the 2014 IWC-POWER survey.

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