SC/F16/JR3

Methodology and survey procedure under the JARPN II –coastal component of Sanriku and Kushiro- during 2008 to
2014, with special emphasis on whale sampling procedures
TOSHIYA KISHIRO1, HIDEYOSHI YOSHIDA1, GENTA YASUNAGA2, TAKEHARU BANDO2, TOSHIHIRO MOGOE2 AND
HIDEHIRO KATO3
1

National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-8648, JapanThe Institute of Cetacean Research, 4-5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0055, Japan
3
Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 4-5-7 Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075, Japan
2

ABSTRACTThis paper summarized the methodology of the whale sampling surveys in the coastal component of JARPN II using small-typewhaling catcher boat during 2008 to 2014. The coastal component started with two feasibility surveys: one in the autumn of 2002
off Kushiro and the other in the spring of 2003 off Sanriku district under the full JARPN II research plan. The surveys wereintroduced to cover the temporal and spatial gaps in sampling, which cannot be covered by the Nisshin Maru research unit used
for offshore sampling. After the two feasibility surveys with a sampling of 50 common minke whales in each year, the coastal
component was revised with a maximum sample size of 60 whales for each of the spring and autumn seasons. Both areas weresurveyed in every year from 2005, and Expert Workshop to review JARPN II for results from 2002 to 2007 was conducted in2009. After 2007, surveys have been continued with a same method, except for 2011 (due to the great earthquake disasteroccurred in the Sanriku region, spring survey of Sanriku was modified to conduct in Kushiro). In 2014, following the Judgementof the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the government of Japan voluntarily reviewed the state of JARPN II, which resulted inmodification of maximum sample size of 60 to 51 whales for each of the seasons, and non-lethal method was introduced into thesurveys. The whale sampling procedures were almost same with former 2002 to 2007 surveys, which done by three or four smalltype whaling catcher boats in the waters within the maximum of 50 nautical miles from the Kushiro port or the Ayukawa port. A
land station with a research head office was established near each of Kushiro and Ayukawa port. The office principally
determined searching area and routes of the sampling boats every day, based on the weather conditions and whale distribution,
and all boats returned to the port every night. All common minke whales sighted were targeted for sampling, except for cow-calfpairs. Once the boat sampled a whale, she returned to the port. At the port, whales were lifted up from the boat by a crane, andtransported to the land station by a freight trailer. All whales sampled were biologically examined at the station in almost the samemanner as that for the offshore component. In addition, biopsy sampling and fecal sampling trials for common minke whales was
carried out by small-type whaling catcher boats in 2014 surveys.

1.BACKGROUND
The full-scale surveys of the second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in thewestern North Pacific (JARPN II) started in 2002 (Government of Japan, 2002a). The objectives of the surveys
are: i) feeding ecology and ecosystem studies, involving prey consumption by cetaceans, prey preferences ofcetaceans and ecosystem modeling, ii) monitoring environmental pollutants in cetaceans and marine ecosystem,
and iii) stock structure of whales (Government of Japan, 2002a).
The former JARPN (1994-1999) and the JARPN II feasibility study (2000-2001) showed that common minke
whales were widely distributed from the offshore to the coastal waters and fed on various prey species such as
Japanese anchovy, Pacific saury and walleye pollock (Government of Japan, 2002b; Tamura and Fujise, 2002).
Especially, the coastal area of Japan was an important fishing ground and the competition between the whales
and fisheries was likely to be severe. However, the Nisshin-Maru research vessels could not survey in the nearshore areas or in the seasons from late autumn to early spring because of the practical availability of the vessels.
Under this situation, sampling of common minke whales in the coastal areas by using small-type whaling catcher
boats was introduced as a ‘coastal component’ to cover the temporal and spatial gaps, in the full-scale JARPN II(Government of Japan, 2002a).
The coastal component started with a two-year feasibility survey to examine the logistic aspects of themethodology (Government of Japan, 2002a). First survey was carried out in the coastal waters off Kushiro,
northeast Japan in autumn 2002 (Kishiro, et al., 2003) and second survey was conducted in the waters off
Sanriku district in spring 2003 (Yoshida, et al., 2004). Each survey took 50 common minke whales. After
examination of the logistic aspects (Kato, et al., 2004), the survey was continued under the full-scale JARPN II
with modification of a maximum sample size of 60 whales for each survey in Kushiro and Sanriku (Governmentof Japan, 2004a). From 2005, both Kushiro and Sanriku surveys have been conducted in every year.
In 2009, the first Expert Workshop to review the JARPN II was conducted for the results of the feasibility and1first six years surveys from 2002 to 2007 (IWC, 2010). A review of the whale sampling procedures of the coastal
component during 2002 to 2007 surveys was submitted to the first Workshop (Kishiro, et al., 2009).
After 2007, coastal component have been continued with almost same manner, but in March 2011, the greatearthquake disaster was occurred in the Sanriku region. Due to this disaster, spring survey of Sanriku in 2011
was modified to conduct in Kushiro in spring season (Yasunaga, et al., 2012). After 2011, spring survey ofSanriku was resumed and both Sanriku and Kushiro surveys have been conducted in every year.
In 2014, following the 31 March 2014 Judgement of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the government ofJapan voluntarily reviewed the state of JARPN II, which resulted in modification of maximum sample size of 60
to 51 whales for each of the seasons, and non-lethal method was introduced into the surveys. These
modifications were applied for both Sanriku and Kushiro surveys in 2014 (Mogoe, et.al., 2015a, and Yoshida,et.al., 2015)
The coastal component was conducted by the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR) for Sanriku, and the National
Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries (NRIFSF) for Kushiro, with cooperation by the Tokyo University ofMarine Science and Technology and the Association for Community-Based Whaling. This paper summarized
the methodology and survey procedures of the coastal component in 2008 to 2014, with special reference to thewhale sampling procedures.

2. GENERAL METHODOLOGY OF THE WHALE SAMPLING SURVEY
Small-type whaling catcher boats are very small sized vessels (Table 1), extremely weak in bad weather
conditions such as big waves and strong wind, and cannot stay on the sea for a long period. Thus, a land-based
operation system was incorporated for whale sampling in the coastal component. Sampling procedure during
2008 to 2014 was almost same with former 2002 to 2007 surveys (Kishiro, et al., 2009). The procedure wasdesigned taking account of operational capacity, ability, and arrangements of the small boats, and different fromthe random sampling procedures adopted by the JARPN II offshore component using large vessels, but thought
to be acceptable in terms of stomach contents collection if the samples evenly cover the area where whales wereseen in the targeted small local area (Kato, et al., 2004). Table 2 shows an outline of the coastal component
surveys in the JARPN II from 2008 to 2014 season.
2.1 Research area and season
As same as former 2002 to 2007 surveys, research area were set in the coastal waters off Kushiro, southeasternpart of the Pacific coast of Hokkaido, in autumn season and off the Sanriku district, northeastern part of theJapanese main island, in spring season (Fig. 1). Both waters were known to be major whaling grounds of the pastcommercial whaling for common minke whales in respective season (Hatanaka and Miyashita, 1997) and also
important fishing grounds for other commercially important species such as walleye pollock, Japanese anchovy,sardine, and sand lance. These areas were located in the sub-area 7CN(Kushiro) and 7CS(Sanriku) established by
the IWC. In order to maintain freshness of samples for biological examination at the land station, especially, tomaintain freshness of stomach contents for feeding study, surveys was mainly conducted within a 30 nautical
miles radius from the port in respective area (the Kushiro port or the Ayukawa port), and limited within the
maximum of 50 n. miles radius from the port.
2.2 Sampling vessels
Following small-type whaling catcher boats were used as sampling vessels. Details of the boats were shown in
Table 1 and Figure 2.
Sumitomo Maru No. 31 (here in after referred as 31S; 32.0GT) … 2008-2010 seasons
Sumitomo Maru No. 51 (51S; 30.0GT)…2011-2014 seasonsKoei Maru No. 8 (8K; 32.0GT)…2011-2014 seasonsKoei Maru No. 75 (75K; 46.2GT)…2008-2010 seasons
Taisho Maru No. 28 (28T; 47.3GT)…2008-2014 seasonsKatsu Maru No.7 (7K; 32.0GT)…2008-2014 seasonsSeiwa Maru (SW; 15.2GT)…2011 season
During the period from 2008 to 2010, four boats (31S, 75K, 28T, 7K) were used. In 2011, 31S was replaced by
51S, and 75K was replaced by 8K. The 8K is renamed vessel of 31S, and actually the same boat (31S). The 75K2

was retired in 2011. The SW was introduced once in 2011 spring survey, in which three boats (SW, 7K, 51S)
were used. In 2012 and afterwards, four boats (51S, 8K, 28T, 7K) were used.
2.3 Land station (JARPN II research station)
As same as former 2002 to 2007 surveys, a land station with a research head office was established in therespective season for biological sampling, flensing, and commanding the operation of the sampling vessels. In
the survey off Kushiro, one station was established in the suburbs of Kushiro City (42°58’N, 144°05’E). In thesurvey off Sanriku, another station was established in the Ayukawa port area (38°17’N, 141°30’E). The head
office continued to communicate with the sampling vessels during the survey, using radio or marine telephone.
When the sampling vessel took a whale, the carcass was pulled onto the rear deck of the vessel and she returnedto the port. At the port, whale was lifted up from the vessel by a crane, using a wire net and transported to thestation by an 11-tons freight trailer (Fig. 3).
2.4 Sighting methods of the sampling vessels
Procedures was almost same as former surveys (Kishiro, et.al., 2009). To maintain the ability for sighting andcapturing the whales by small boats with few members of the crew, a usual line transect method such as the
zigzag shaped track lines was not introduced. Because the small boats are extremely weak in bad weather
conditions such as big waves and strong wind, and cannot stay on the sea for a long period, boats departure theport in every morning, and return to the port every night. General procedure was follows:(1) The predetermined course (direction from the port) at an angle of regular intervals (usually 10-15 degreeintervals) are set up by the head office, and allocated to the respective boat (Fig.4A). The boats departure theport with respective course, and start to searching with cruising speed at 10-11 knots.
(2) The boats continue to search along the course until common minke whales are sighted, or boats arrive at 30
n. miles from the port (Fig. 4B). Each boat tries to take her first encountered whale. If the boats missed tocatch the targeted whale, they resumed searching along the course.
(3) If boat captured whale, she returned to the port to transport the animal to the research station. During thereturn cruise, searching is resumed, and other common minke whales sighted are targeted for sampling,when the situation allowed. After the whale was transported to the station, the boat re-departed from the port
as match as possible.
(4) After arriving at 30 n. miles from the port, the boats change the course freely within a 50 n. miles radiusfrom the port, and continue to search (Fig. 4C and D).
(5) When the weather or sea state were expected to be changed to worse before arriving at 30 n. miles from theport, then the boats changed the course freely at that point. When the weather changed to more badly(around 2m height of the waves or Beaufort 4 or more), the boats returned to the port.
(6) Searching is principally continued until 30 minutes before sunset, and then all boat return to the port.
(7) The predetermined course is changed every day to cover broad areas.
Searching is carried out from the top barrel (6 to 7 m above the water surface) with almost all crew members (4to 5 persons) except for persons handling the boat. Searching is also conducted in some times form upper bridgeby one or two crews and a researcher. At least one researcher was on board in each of all boats, and recorded
information on sighting, sampling and searching effort, e.g., time and location of sighting and sampling, species
and school size sighted, and activity and cruise tracks of boat. Weather information (weather, visibility, windforce, and sea surface water temperature) was also recorded for every hour. Sightings of whales were classified
into primary and secondary sightings. The primary sightings were those seen during normal searching period(crew searched from the top barrel). The secondary sightings were those seen in out of normal searching, e.g.,during closing or chasing target whales, no observer in the top barrel, or off the research time.
To avoid the excessive concentration of the sampling areas, other restricted method to determine the course(direction from the port) was prepared as a sector survey. In that survey, the research area is divided into three orfour sectors based on the direction from the port (Fig. 5), and one of those sectors is selected as a restricted
searching area. Predetermined course is set within that sector, and the boats cruise within that sector to broad thesearching and sampling coverage in the total research area. This method was prepared as a supplemental option,
but not implemented during the 2008 to 2014 surveys, because almost whole research area (at least within 30 n.
miles from the port) could be covered by usual method in Kushiro surveys. In Sanriku surveys, this supplemental
method could not be implemented due to the difficulty in conducting the survey in the outside of the Sendai Bay,
where changeable weather condition and bigger wave prevented the small boats. As a result, searching area wasconcentrated in the middle part of the Sendai Bay in Sanriku surveys.

3

Resultant cruise trucks of the sampling vessels during 2008 to 2014 Kushiro and Sanriku survey were shown in
Figure 6 and 7, respectively. In Kushiro survey, the searching areas almost covered the waters within 30 n. miles
from the port in the direction of east and west. In Sanriku survey, the searching areas were concentrated in thesouthwestern part of the research area (the middle part of the Sendai Bay) as mentioned above.
2.5 Sampling methods
All common minke whales sighted were targeted for sampling. Cow-calf pair was planned to be excluded fromthe target, but such pairs were not sighted during the surveys. When a sighting consisted of more than one animal,
first targeted animal was selected using a random digit table. Sampling was made by 50 mm whaling cannon. In
order to avoid the vomit of stomach contents from whale, and to maintain the human safety during the operations,chasing was usually limited to a maximum of 120 minutes against one animal. Distributions of common minke
whales sampled by the respective surveys are shown in Figure 8 and 9. Locations of these samples covered
almost all of the areas searched by the boats in respective surveys.
2.6 Biological survey
All the whales sampled were biologically examined by researchers on the land station in almost the same manneras that for the offshore component. Research items of the biological studies were summarized in Table 3 and 4,
with the number of data and samples obtained. These items were related to the studies on feeding ecology, stock
structure, life historical biology and pollution studies.
2.7 Non-lethal survey
Biopsy sampling and fecal sampling trials for common minke whales was carried out by small-type whaling
catcher boats in 2014 Sanriku and Kushiro surveys. Details of the methods and results were described by Mogoe,
et. al., 2015b, which was submitted to the 66a th IWC Scientific Committee meeting.
2.7.1 Biopsy sampling
Biopsy sampling for common minke whales was attempted using compound crossbow, air gun (LKARTSNorway), and Larsen gun. In Sanriku survey, biopsy sampling was planned to be attempt after the one animal
was lethally sampled by each boat, but no animals were encountered during such period. In Kushiro survey,
biopsy sampling was attempted on four days including additional dedicated biopsy surveys. During the period,
11 schools (12 animals) were encountered, 9 animals were targeted for biopsy sampling, and 5 biopsy samples
were collected from five animals.
2.7.2 Fecal sampling
In Sunriku survey, searching for excretion was conducted for 44.8 hours on the 49 animals encountered during
the lethal and non-lethal surveys, but excretion was not observed. In Kushiro survey, searching was made for60.6 hours on the 89 animals encountered, and one case of excretion was observed. However, fecal was
dispersed before sampling, and could not be collected.
3. OUTLINE OF THE RESPECTIVE SURVEY
Table 2 summarizes outline of the whale sampling surveys in the coastal component of JARPN II from 2008 to2014 season. Following are summary of procedures and results in respective survey. Details of each survey aredescribed in cruise reports of the JARPN II coastal component (see Reference). Cruise tracks of the respective
surveys are shown in Figure 6 and 7. Distributions of common minke whales sampled by the surveys are shownin Figure 8 and 9.
3.1 Sanriku survey
Spring season, off Sanriku, 2008 (Yasunaga, et al., 2009)
The fifth survey off Sanriku district was conducted from 14 April to 18 May 2008 (35 days), using four smalltype whaling catcher boat. During the survey, a total of 5,275.9 n.miles (482.0 hours) was searched for whale
sampling, 94 schools (96 individuals) of common minke whales were sighted. A total of 60 animals were
sampled. Searching efforts were mainly covering at least south-western part of the whole research area andsampling position were clumped in the Sendai Bay. Sampled whales were consisted of 37 females and 23 males(sex ratio: 38.3% of male), and average body length of the animals was 5.91m (SD: 1.01) for females and 5.67m(SD: 1.06) for males, respectively. Dominant prey species were adult and juvenile of Japanese sand lance.
Japanese anchovy and krill were observed from one individual each, respectively. Juvenile of the Japanese sandlance in the stomach of minke whales were observed for the first time in Sanriku operation.
4

Spring season, off Sanriku, 2009 (Yasunaga, et al., 2010)
The sixth survey off Sanriku district was conducted from 22 April to 21 May 2009 (30 days), using four smalltype whaling catcher boat. A total of 4,756.1 n.miles (464.0 hours) was searched for whale sampling, 111
schools (112 individuals) of common minke whales were sighted, and 60 animals were sampled. Searching effort
was forced in Sendai Bay. Sampled whales were consisted of 33 females and 27 males (sex ratio: 45.0% of male),
and average body length of the animals was 5.12m (SD: 0.80) for females and 5.14m (SD: 0.61) for males,
respectively. Dominant prey species were adult of Japanese sand lance. Japanese anchovy and krill wereobserved less frequently.

Spring season, off Sanriku, 2010 (Bando, et al., 2011)
The seventh survey off Sanriku district was conducted from 22 April to 7 June 2010 (47 days), using four smalltype whaling catcher boat. A total of 8,957.0 n.miles were searched for whale sampling, and 62 schools (62individuals) of common minke whales were sighted. Searching effort was forced in Sendai Bay. Total of 45
whales were sampled, and average body length was 5.12m (SD: 0.99, n=27) for female and 6.02m (SD: 1.15,n=18) for males (sex ratio: 40.0% male). Dominant prey species were Japanese sand lance followed by krill.
Japanese anchovy was observed in only one of the animals.

Spring season, off Sanriku, 2012 (Yasunaga, et al., 2013)
The eighth survey off Sanriku district was conducted from 12 April to 26 May 2012 (45 days), using four smalltype whaling catcher boat. Because of logistical constraint and the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power
stations, the southern boundary line of the research area 1 was set in the administrative boundary between
Miyagi and Fukushima Prefecture (due east of 37.54°N from land until 141.50°E), and we cannot used the Port
Ayukawa as a home port because of the damage caused by disaster and tsunami of the Great East Japan
Earthquake in 11 March 2011. In this survey, we switch the home port from Ayukawa to Ishinomaki, but land
station was placed in Ayukawa, which is the same spot past survey. A total of 6,488.1 n.miles were searched forwhale sampling. During the research, a total of 6,488.1 n.miles (630.1 hours) were searched and 95 schools (97individuals) of common minke whales were sighted. The mean body length of sampled whales was 5.34m (SD:0.97, n=31) for female and 5.10m (SD: 0.82, n=29) for male (sex ratio: 48.3% of male). Dominant prey species
were adult and juvenile Japanese sand lances in the whales sampled in Sendai Bay. Also Japanese anchovies andkrill ware found which sampled in the outside of Sendai Bay.

Spring season, off Sanriku, 2013 (Yasunaga, et al., 2014)
The ninth survey off Sanriku district was conducted from 18 April to 3 June 2013, using four small-type whaling
catcher boats. The survey in this year was still affected by the disaster. The southern boundary line of theresearch Area1 and 2 were set in the administrative boundary between Miyagi and Fukushima Prefecture (dueeast of 37.54°N) , and we used the Port Ishinomaki as a home port. A total of 7,188.3 n.miles (709.3 hours) weresurveyed and 59 schools (59 individuals) of common minke whales were sighted. A total of 34 animals were
sampled. Average body length of the animals was 5.21 m (SD: 0.60, n=17) for females and 5.02 m (SD: 1.12,n=17) for males (sex ratio: 50.0% of male). Dominant prey species sampled in the Sendai Bay were juvenile
Japanese sand lances, and those collected outside Sendai Bay were Japanese anchovies.

Spring season, off Sanriku, 2014 (Mogoe, et al., 2015)
The tenth survey off Sanriku district was conducted from 26 April to 11 June 2014 (47 days), using four smalltype whaling catcher boats. Port Ayukawa recovered and the home port of the whaling catcher boats were placed.
The southern boundary line of the research area was still set same as 2013 research. The survey was carried out
from 26 April to 11 June 2014. During the survey, a total of 5745.1n.miles (571.1 hours) was surveyed. The 51
schools (51 individuals) of common minke whales were detected and 30 animals were caught. Average bodylength of the sampled animals was 5.78m (SD: 1.10, n=14) for females and 5.92m (SD: 1.11, n=16) for males(sex ratio: 53.3 % of male). Dominant prey species were adult sand lance (58.6%), followed by Japanese sardine(13.8%), juvenile sand lance (10.3%), krill (10.3%), and mackerels (6.9%). Japanese sardine and mackerels were
the first observation in JARPN II off Sanriku surveys.

5

3.2 Kushiro survey
Autumn season, off Kushiro, 2008 (Yoshida, et al., 2009)
The sixth survey off Kushiro was conducted from 9 September to 20 October 2008 (50 days), using four smalltype whaling catcher boats. During the survey, a total of 5,381.4 nautical miles (521.3 hours) was searched, all
the 108 schools (110 individuals) of common minke whales were detected, and a total of 50 individuals were
sampled. Average body length of the animals was 5.97 m (SD=1.12, n=32) for males and 5.61 m (SD=1.14,n=18) for females (sex ratio: 64.0% of male). The dominant prey species found from whale forestomach waswalleye pollock (58.0%), followed by Japanese anchovy (34.0%), krill (4.0%), and Japanese common squid(2.0%). Pacific saury was also had, but only two individuals were detected from whale forestomach.

Autumn season, off Kushiro, 2009 (Kishiro, et al., 2010)
The seventh survey off Kushiro was conducted from 5 September to 17 October 2009 (59 days), using four
small-type whaling catcher boats. During the survey, a total of 5,136.2 n. miles (493.8 hours) was searched, 106
schools (107 individuals) of common minke whales were sighted and 59 whales were sampled. Average bodylength was 6.13m (SD=1.10, n=36) for males and 5.12m (SD=0.60, n=23) for females (sex ratio: 61.0% of male).
The dominant prey species found in the forestomach contents was walleye Pollock (40.7%), followed by krill(32.2%), Japanese anchovy (22.0%), and Japanese common squid (1.7%). Pacific saury was not found.

Autumn season, off Kushiro, 2010 (Yoshida, et al., 2011)
The eighth survey off Kushiro was conducted from 7 September to 6 October 2010 (60 days), using four smalltype whaling catcher boats. During the survey, a total of 4,151.6 nautical miles (385.0 hours) was searched, all
the 125 schools (126 individuals) of common minke whales were detected, and 60 individuals were sampled.
Average body length of males was 5.80 m (SD=1.06, n=41) and 5.44 m (SD=0.63, n=19) for females (sex ratio:
68.3% of male). Dominant prey species walleye pollock (60.0%), followed by Japanese anchovy (36.7%) andunidentified fish (3.3%). No other prey species were observed.

Spring season, off Kushiro, 2011 (Yasunaga, et al., 2012)
On 11 March 2011, the Ayukawa town, including all research facilities of JARPN II there, was destroyed by alarge earthquake and tsunami. From these, the spring coastal survey in 2011 could not be conducted at Ayukawa.
Instead, the spring survey was conducted at Kushiro. The survey was conducted from 25 April to 10 June (47days), using three small-type whaling catcher boats. A total of 3,867.4 n.miles (375.2 hours) was searched and
36 schools (43 individuals) of common minke whales were sighted. All the 17 animals was sampled. Average
body length of the animals was 6.70 m (SD=0.84, n=9) for males and 6.29 m (SD=1.02, n=8) for females (sexratio: 52.9% of male). Dominant prey species found in the forestomach were walleye pollock (71.4%) and krill
was observed less frequently (28.6%).
Autumn season, off Kushiro, 2011 (Kishiro, et al., 2012)
The ninth autumn survey off Kushiro was conducted from 9 September to 30 October 2011 (52 days), using four
small-type whaling catcher boats. During the survey, a total of 5,367.8 n. miles (515.0 hours) was searched, 144
schools (150 individuals) of common minke whales were sighted and 60 whales were sampled. Average bodylength of sampled whales was 6.24m (SD=1.06, n=35) for males and 6.05m (SD=1.08, n=25) for females (sexratio: 58.3% of male). Dominant prey species was Japanese anchovy (61.7%), followed by walleye Pollock(26.7%), and krill (8.3%). Pacific saury and Japanese common squid were not observed.

Autumn season, off Kushiro, 2012 (Yoshida, et al., 2013)
The tenth autumn survey off Kushiro was conducted from 9 September to 28 October 2012 (50 days), using four
small-type whaling catcher boats. During the survey, a total of 4,843.7 nautical miles (464.6 hours) was searched
and the 95 schools (104 individuals) of common minke whales were encountered. From the common minke
whales, 48 animals were sampled. Average body length of males was 6.09m (SD=0.94, n=27) and 5.92m(SD=1.32, n=21) for females (sex ratio: 56.3% of male). Dominant prey species was walleye pollock (45.8%),
followed by Japanese sardine (31.3%), mackerel (6.2%), Japanese anchovy (6.2%), Japanese common squid
6(6.2%), krill (2.1%), and unidentified fish (2.1%). In the present survey, the frequency of whales feeding on
Japanese anchovy was much low in comparison with the previous surveys, while Japanese sardine and mackerels
were first detected from whale stomach.

Autumn season, off Kushiro, 2013 (Kishiro, et al., 2014)
The eleventh autumn survey off Kushiro was conducted from 6 September to 25 October 2013 (50 days), using
four small-type whaling catcher boats. During the survey, a total of 4,629.7 n. miles (451.8 hours) was searched,
126 schools (142 individuals) of common minke whales were sighted and 58 whales were sampled. Average
body length of sampled whales was 6.77m (SD=0.88, n=41) for males and 6.55m (SD=1.39, n=17) for females(sex ratio: 70.7%). The dominant prey species found in the stomach was Japanese sardine (63.8%), followed bywalleye pollock (22.4%), mackerel (6.9%), krill (5.2%) and Japanese common squid (1.7%). Japanese anchovy
and Pacific saury could not be found in the stomach.
Autumn season, off Kushiro, 2014 (Yoshida, et al., 2015)
The twelfth autumn survey off Kushiro was conducted from 5 to 24 September 2014 (20 days), with additional
period for sighting survey in 2-3 September. The survey was carried out using four small-type whaling catcher
boats. During the 20 days, a total of 2576.1 nautical miles (250.9 hours) was searched and the 99 schools (109individuals) of common minke whales were encountered. Of these, 51 animals were collected. Average bodylength of males was 6.28m (SD=1.08, n=35) and 6.44m (SD=0.98, n=16) for females (sex ratio: 68.6%).
Dominant prey species was walleye pollock (58.8%), followed by Japanese sardine (35.3%), mackerel (3.9%)
and medusa fish (2.1%).

REFERENCES
Bando, T., Yasunaga, G., Ito, N., Tabata, S., Oikawa, H., Nakamura, G., Maeda, H., Miyakawa, N., Zenitani, R., Zennyoji, Y., Yonehara, Y.,
Ishikawa, Y., Fukutome, K., Tsunekawa, M., Aki, M., Yamasaki, K., Tsutsumi, T., Kitayama, K., Onodera, K., and Kato, H. 2011. Cruise
report of the second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2010
(Part II) - Coastal component off Sanriku. SC/63/O3 submitted to the 63th IWC Scientific Committee, 14pp.
Government of Japan, 2002a. Research plan for cetacean studies in the western North Pacific under special permit (JARPN II). Paper
SC/54/O2 submitted to the 54th IWC Scientific Committee.
Government of Japan (Fujise, Y., Kawahara, S., Pastene, L.A. and Hatanaka, H. eds.), 2002b. Report of 2000 and 2001 feasibility study of
the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific-Phase II (JARPN II). Paper SC/54/O17 submitted
to the 54th IWC Scientific Committee, 202pp.
Government of Japan, 2004. Revised research plan for cetacean studies in the western North Pacific under special permit (JARPN II). Paper
SC/56/O1 submitted to the 56th IWC Scientific Committee, 14pp.
Hatanaka, H. and Miyashita, T. 1997. On the feeding migration of the Okhotsk Sea-West Pacific stock of minke whales, estimated based on
length composition data. Rep. int. Whal. Commn 47:557-564.
International Whaling Commission. 2010. The report of the Expert Workshop to review the ongoing JARPN II Programme. J. Cetacean Res.
Manage. 11 (Supple 2): 405-449.
Kato, H., Kishiro, T., Yoshida, H. and Kawahara, S. 2004. Feasibility of coastal surveys in the JARPN II, from the viewpoint of logistics.
Appendix 1, pp4-12. In: Government of Japan (Fujise, Y., Tamura, T., Kato, H. and Kawahara, S. eds.), Some considerations of thefeasibility components of the JARPN II research plan. Paper SC/56/O2 submitted to the 56th IWC Scientific Committee, 36pp.
Kishiro, T., Kato, H., Ohizumi, H., Yoshida, H., Saito, T., Isoda, T., Tabata, T., Sakakibara, M., Saino, S., Hara, T., Hayashi, T., Miyashita,T., Fukudome, K., Kiwada, H. and Kawahara, S. 2003. Report of the 2002 JARPN II survey in the western North Pacific. Part II: Coastal
component – Coastal survey off Kushiro, northeast Japan. Paper SC/55/O8 submitted to the 55th IWC Scientific Committee, 26pp.
Kishiro, T., Yoshida, H., Goto, M., Bando, T. and Kato, H. 2009. Methodology and survey procedure under the JARPN II – coastal
component of Sanriku and Kushiro -, with special emphasis on whale sampling procedures. Paper SC/J09/JR3 presented to the JARPN II
Review Workshop, Tokyo, January 2009, 27pp.
Kishiro, T., Kato, H., Yoshida, H., Yasunaga, G., Tabata, S., Nakamura, G., Maeda, H., Inoue, S., Miyagawa, N., Okamoto, R., Oikawa, H.,
Watanabe, H., Iwasaki, T., Kanaji, Y., Minamikawa, S., Otani, S., Ishikawa, H., Kanda, N., Gokita, A., Yamazaki, K., and Yonehara, Y.
2010. Cruise report of the Second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific(JARPN II) in 2009 - Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/62/O6 submitted to the 62th IWC Scientific Committee, 13pp.
Kishiro, T., Kato, H., Ito, N., Yasunaga, G., Hara, T., Nakamura, G., Maeda, H., Inoue, S., Miyakawa, N., Ishida, K., Kadowaki, I., Oikawa,
H., Miyashita, T., Iwasaki, T., Kanaji, Y., Minamikawa, S., Watanabe, H., Kumagai, S., Sato, H., and Kitayama, K. 2012. Cruise report of
the Second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2011 (Part III)- Coastal component off Kushiro, autumn survey. Paper SC/64/O5 submitted to the 64th IWC Scientific Committee, 14pp.

7

Kishiro, T., Yoshida, H., Ito, N., Nakamura, G., Miyakawa, N., Tamai, N., Kadowaki, I., Fukumoto, A., Takahashi, M., Furuyama, Y., Oota,
Y., Maeda, H., Miyashita, T., Kumagai, S., Hara, T., Kimura, Y., Sakamoto, N., Kobayashi, N., Suzuki, N., Kanaji, Y., Mogoe, T., Nakai,K., and Kato, H. 2014. Cruise report of the Second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western
North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2013 (Part III) - Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/65b/SP04 submitted to the 65bth IWC ScientificCommittee, 13pp.
Mogoe, T., Bando, T., Ito, N., Nakamura, G., Hiruda, H., Oikawa, H., Isoda, T., Kumagai, S., Sato, H., Sakamoto, N., Miyagawa, N.,
Takahashi, M., Fukumoto, A., Ota, M., Furuyama, Y., Hirose, A., Kato, K., Hayashi, R., Yoshii K., Yoshida, H., and Kato, H. 2015a.
Cruise Report of the Second Phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific (JARPNII)
in 2014 - Coastal component off Sanriku. Paper SC/66a/SP5 submitted to the 66ath IWC Scientific Committee, 16pp.
Mogoe, T., Tamura, T., Yoshida., H., Kishiro, T., Yasunaga, G., Bando, T., Konishi, K., Nakai, K., Kanda, N., Kitamura, T., Nakano, K.,
Katsumata, H., Handa, Y. and Kato, H. 2015b. Preliminary report of efficiency and practicability of biopsy sampling, fecal sampling andprey species identification from genetic analysis in 2014, and work-plan for non-lethal research in JARPN II. Paper SC/66a/SPx submitted
to the 66ath IWC Scientific Committee, 11pp.
Tamura, T. and Fujise, Y. 2002. Geographical and seasonal changes of the prey species on minke whale in the Northwestern Pacific. ICES
Journal of Marine Science, 59:516-528.
Yasunaga, G., Kato, H., Kishiro, T., Yoshida, H., Nishiwaki, S., Saito, T., Tabata, S., Okamoto, R., Maeda, H., Nakamura, G., Inoue, S.,
Otani, S., Iwasaki, T., Kanaji, Y., Mogoe, T., Murase, H., Wada, A., Nakai, K., Matsumoto, A., Gokita, A., Yamazaki, Y., Oikawa, H.,
Onodera, K., Shiraishi, K. and Nagashima, H. 2009. Cruise Report of the Second Phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program underSpecial Permit in the Western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2008 - (Part II) - Coastal component off Sanriku. SC/61/O6 submitted to the61th IWC Scientific Committee, 24pp.
Yasunaga, G., Kato, H., Kishiro, T., Yoshida, H., Ishikawa, H., Goto, M., Tabata, S., Maeda, H., Nakamura, G., Inoue, S., Miyakawa, N.,
Tamura, T., Kumagai, S., Iwasaki, T., Kanaji, Y., Watanabe, H., Hiruta, H., Yamazaki, Y., Yonehara, Y., Oikawa, H., and Onodera, K.
2010. Cruise Report of the Second Phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Western North Pacific(JARPN II) in 2009 - (Part II) - Coastal component off Sanriku. SC/62/O5 submitted to the 62th IWC Scientific Committee, 20pp.
Yasunaga, G., Ito, N, Wada, A., Kiwada, H., Sato, H., Maeda, H., Nakamura, G., Inoue, S., Miyakawa, N., Kitayama, K., Ishikawa, Y.,
Suzuki, N., Tsutsumi, T., Kadowaki, I., and Kato, H. 2012. Cruise Report of the Second Phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program
under Special Permit in the Western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2011 - (Part II) - Coastal component off Kushiro, spring survey.
SC/64/O4 submitted to the 64th IWC Scientific Committee, 11pp.
Yasunaga, G., Ito, N, Oikawa, H., Nakamura, G., Maeda, H., Inoue, S., Kitayama, K., Kadowaki, I., Tamai, N., Miyakawa, N., Ishikawa, Y.,
Ishida, K., Suzuki, N., Kobayashi, N., Sato, H., Kumagai, S., Sakamoto, N., and Kato, H. 2013. Cruise Report of the Second Phase of theJapanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2012 - (Part II) – Coastal component
off Sanriku survey. SC/65a/O07 submitted to the 65ath IWC Scientific Committee, 19pp.
Yasunaga, G., Bando, T., Ito, N, Nakamura, G., Inoue, S., Miyakawa, N., Kadowaki, I., Takahashi, M., Fukumoto, A., Kitamra, K.,
Furuyama, Y., Kobayashi, N., Ohta, M., Sato, H., Kumagai, S., Sakamoto, N., and Kato, H. 2014. Cruise Report of the Second Phase of theJapanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2013 - (Part II) - Coastal component
off Sanriku survey. SC/65b/SP03 submitted to the 65bth IWC Scientific Committee, 20pp.
Yoshida, H., Kato, H., Kishiro, T., Iwasaki, T., Miyashita, T., Ryono, T., Tabata, S., Sakakibara, M., Saino, S., Hara, T., Hayashi, T.,
Tomizawa, Y., Tamai, K., Okamoto, R., Fukuoka, M., Watanabe, H., Tsunekawa, M. and Kawahara, S. 2004. Report of the coastal survey
on common minke whales off Sanriku coast, northeast Japan: the Japanese whale research program under special permit in the western
North Pacific – Phase II (JARPN II) in 2003 (Part II) – Coastal component. Paper SC/56/O14 submitted to the 56th IWC ScientificCommittee, 31pp.
Yoshida, H., Kato, H., Kishiro, T., Miyashita, T., Iwasaki, T., Kanaji, Y., Yasunaga, G., Oikawa, H., Ryono, T., Tabata, S., Okamoto, R.,
Maeda, H., Matsumoto, A., Ogawa, N., Nagatsuka, S., Inoue, S., Hiruda, H., Gokita, A., Matsunaga, H., and Yamasaki, K., 2009. Cruise
report of the second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2008
(Part II) - Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/61/O5 submitted to the 61th IWC Scientific Committee, 10pp.
Yoshida, H., Ito, N., Kishiro, T., Miyashita, T., Iwasaki, T., Minamikawa, S., Kanaji, Y., Oikawa, H., Tabata, T., Kumagai, S., Nakamura, G.,
Maeda, H., Inoue, S., Miyakawa, N., Ishikawa, Y., Shimizu, K., Yonehara, Y., Kitayama, K., Tsutsumi, T., and Kato, H. 2011. Cruise
report of the second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2010
(Part III) - Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/63/O4 submitted to the 63th IWC Scientific Committee, 10pp.
Yoshida, H., Ito, N., Kishiro, T., Miyashita, T., Yasunaga, G., Hara, T., Nakamura, G., Maeda, H., Inoue, S., Tsutsumi, T., Ishida, K., Tamai,N., Kadowaki, I., Oka, S., Takahashi, M., Fukumoto, A., Kumagai, S., Sato, H., Sakamoto, N., Kitayama, K., Kobayashi, N. and Kato, H.
2013. Cruise report of the Second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific(JARPN II) in 2012 (Part III) - Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/65a/O6 submitted to the 65ath IWC Scientific Committee, 12pp.
Yoshida, H., Ito, N., Kishiro, T., Miyashita, T., Nakai, K., Nakamura, G., Maeda, H., Ishida, K., Takahashi, M., Ota, M., Furukawa, Y., Kato,
K., Hayashi, R., Hiruda, H., Kumagai, S., Sakamoto, N., Kimura, Y., Teshima, I., and Kato, H. 2015. Cruise report of the Second phase of
the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2014 (Part III) - Coastal
component off Kushiro. Paper SC/66a/SP7 submitted to the 66ath IWC Scientific Committee, 13pp.

8

9

10

11

Fig. 1. Research areas of the whale sampling surveys in the coastal component of the JARPN II.

12

A

B

C

D

Fig. 2. Small-type whaling catcher boats used in the coastal component of the JARPN II.
A: Sumitomo Maru No. 51(51S); B: Taisho Maru No.28 (28T); C: Koei Maru No.8 (8K);
D: Katsu Maru No.7 (7K)

Fig.3. Left photo: At the port, sampled whale was lifted up from vessel by a crane, using a wire net andtransported to the station by a freight trailer. Right photo: The JARPN II research station established in thesuburbs of Kushiro for biological examination.

13

Fig.4. Schematic diagram of the manner of searching for whale sampling in the research area in the coastal
component of the JARPN II. Arrows with letters ‘a’ to‘d’ indicate examples of the movements of respective
small-type whaling catcher boat.

Fig.5. Allocation of the sectors for research area of the coastal component of the JARPN II.
14

Fig.6. Cruise tracks of the whale sampling surveys off Sanriku in 2008 to 201415

.

Fig.7. Cruise tracks of the whale sampling surveys off Kushiro in 2008 to 201416

Fig.8. Distributions of common minke whales sampled by the coastal component off Sanriku in 2008 to 2014.
17

Fig.9. Distributions of common minke whales sampled by the coastal component off Kushiro in 2008 to 2014.

18

19