SC/60O7

SC/60/O7

Cruise report of the Second phase of the Japanese Whale Research
Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific (JARPNII) in 2007 – Coastal component off Kushiro
TOSHIYA KISHIRO1, HIDEHIRO KATO2, HIDEYOSHI YOSHIDA1, TOMIO MIYASHITA1,TOSHIHIDE IWASAKI1, YU KANAJI1, TAMEO RYONO3, SHIGEO TABATA3, YUKA
MORITA3, RYOSUKE OKAMOTO2, HIKARI MAEDA2, SYOKA NAGATUKA2, NATUKOOGAWA2, KAZUYOSHI NAKAI3, TADASHI EBISUI3, AKIRA MATUMOTO2, AKIHIROGOKITA2, HIROSHI KIWADA3 AND SHIGEYUKI KAWAHARA1
Contact e-mail: kishiro@affrc.go.jp
1

National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, 2-12-4, Fukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama Kanazawa
236-8648, Japan

2

Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, 1-5-7, Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo, 108-0075 Japan

3

The Institute of Cetacean Research, 4-5, Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0055, Japan.

ABSTRACTThe fifth survey of the JARPN II coastal component off Kushiro, northeast Japan (northern part of the sub-area 7)
was conducted from 10 September to 31 October 2007, using four small-type whaling catcher boats and one echosounder-trawler and dedicated sighting survey vessel. The sampling was conducted in the coastal waters within the 50
nautical miles from the Kushiro port, and all whales sampled were landed on the land station in the Kushiro port forbiological examination. During the survey, a total of 6,827.7 n. miles (637.6 hours) was searched for whale sampling,
98 schools/ 99 individuals of common minke whales were sighted and 50 whales were sampled. Average body lengthof sampled whales was 6.45m (SD=1.10, n=33) for males and 5.49m (SD=0.81, n=17) for females, respectively. In
males, 15 out of 33 animals were sexually mature, while all females (17 animals) collected were sexually immature.
Dominant prey species found in the forestomach contents were Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus (38.0%) andwalleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma (30.0%). The ratio of the whales fed on walleye Pollock was relatively highin 2007 compared with the results of the previous surveys conducted in 2002 to 2006. Larger and mature whales tend
to take Pacific saury Cololabis saira and common squid Todarodes pacificus, while immature whales mainly took
walleye Pollock. These results suggested the possible difference in the food preference between mature and immatureindividuals in the coastal waters off Kushiro in autumn season, and the variability in the effects for the inshore marine
ecosystem and local coastal fisheries through the yearly change in the composition of the whales migrate to the local
coastal area.

KEYWORDS: COMMON MINKE WHALE; NORTH PACIFIC; COASTAL WATERS OF JAPAN; FOOD/PREY;ECOSYSTEM; SCIENTIFIC PERMITS

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Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

BACKGROUND
The full-scale surveys of the second phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special
Permit in the western North Pacific (JARPN II) started in 2002 (Government of Japan, 2002). The
objectives of the surveys are: i) feeding ecology and ecosystem studies, involving prey consumption
by cetaceans, prey preferences of cetaceans and ecosystem modeling, ii) monitoring environmental
pollutants in cetaceans and marine ecosystem, and iii) stock structure of whales (Government ofJapan, 2002).

The full-scale JARPN II involves two survey components; ‘offshore’ which is covered by the
Nisshin Maru research vessels and ‘coastal’ which is covered by small-type whaling catcher boats,and the latter one is necessary to cover the temporal and spatial gaps, which can not be covered by
the Nisshin maru research vessels (Government of Japan, 2002).

Based on the results of the two-year feasibility study of the coastal survey component conducted in
2002 off Kushiro and 2003 off Sanriku district (Kishiro, et al., 2003, Yoshida, et al., 2004,
Government of Japan, 2004a), the coastal component has been revised to be conducted twice a year,with 60 common minke whales being sampled in each of spring off Sanriku and autumn off Kushiro(Government of Japan, 2004b). After the first revised survey carried out off Kushiro in autumn 2004
(Kishiro, et al., 2005), the coastal survey off Kushiro was conducted in every years in 2005 and 2006
(Kishiro, et al., 2006, Yoshida, et al., 2007). This paper presents results of the fifth survey conducted
off Kushiro, from 10 September to 31 October in 2007. The survey was authorized by theGovernment of Japan in compliance with Article VIII of the international convention for the
Regulation of Whaling. The National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries (NRIFSF), Fisheries
Research Agency, planned and conducted the survey cooperate with the Institute of Cetacean
Research (ICR) and Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Response to the discussion at the IWC/SC meeting
The revised JARPN II research plan was presented at the 56th IWC/SC annual meeting (Governmentof Japan, 2004b). Results of the surveys off Kushiro conducted in 2004 to 2006 were reported at thefollowing IWC/SC meetings (Kishiro, et al., 2005, 2006, Yoshida, et al., 2007). Although somediscussions were made at those meetings, there remained divided views in the Committee members
and no critical or agreed recommendation for the research plan was made (IWC, 2005; 2006; 2007).
Thus, the 2007 survey was conducted almost same methodology in the previous surveys. The survey
consisted of two research components as follows; 1) coastal whale sampling survey by small-typewhaling catcher boats, 2) coastal prey species survey and dedicated sighting survey by one echosounder-trawler survey vessel with a top barrel. The dedicated sighting survey by other large vessel
was not carried out due to the logistic reason.
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Research area
The research area was same to the previous surveys (Kishiro, et al., 2003, 2005, 2006, Yoshida, et al.,2007), i.e. the coastal waters off Kushiro, within the 50 nautical miles form the Kushiro port (Fig. 1).
This area is included in the northern part of the sub-area 7 determined by the IWC.

Research vessels and land station
Whale sampling survey
Four small-type whaling catcher boats (Taisho Maru No. 28 (hereafter referred as 28T; 47.3GT),
Koei Maru No.75 (75K; 46.0GT), Sumitomo Maru No.31 (31S; 32.0GT) and Katsu Maru No.7 (7K;
32.0GT) were used as the whale sampling vessels. The sampling survey was conducted from 10
September to 31 October. All whales sampled were landed on the land station (the JARPN II
research station) in the Kushiro port for biological examination of the whales and the by-products.

Prey species survey and large-scale dedicated sighting survey
The Kaiko Maru (KK1; 860.3GT) conducted the prey species survey using a quantitativeechosounder (SIMRAD ED500), mid-water trawl, and IKMT, in a wider research area off east coastof Hokkaido, from 9 September to 10 October. The survey was conducted along the predeterminedzigzag-shaped track lines and also engaged a sighting survey for whales from the top barrel andupper bridge. Oceanographic observation using a CTD was also carried out. Details of the surveys
are shown in Appendix 1. Oceanographic conditions revealed from the CTD observations are notedin Appendix 2.

Sampling survey by small-type whaling catcher boat
As same as the former surveys (Kishiro et al., 2003, 2005, 2006, Yoshida et al., 2007), the researchhead office was placed in the research station and controlled the sampling vessels during the survey.
All catcher boats were engaged as the sampling vessels. To avoid the concentration of sampling
location, the research head office arbitrarily determined the searching area and route (direction fromthe port) for each sampling vessel in every day, based on the information of the whale distribution
obtained by the dedicated sighting survey and the past sampling surveys. Weather conditions andinformation on fishing grounds of prey species were also considered.
In each vessel, a researcher was on board and recorded the cruise tracks, searching time on
effort, sea weather conditions and sighting data. Sighting data would be collected for all baleen
whales, sperm whales, Baird’s beaked whales, killer whales and short-finned pilot whales. The
vessel principally continued to cruise and search along the predetermined direction until arrived at
10-30 n. miles from the port, and then freely cruised in the waters within the 50 n. miles radius fromthe port. Searching was carried out during the day and the vessels returned to the port every night.
Sighting was conducted from the top barrel and upper bridge by all the crews and researcher withvessel speed at about 11 knots. All common minke whales sighted were targeted for sampling,3

Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

except for the cow-calf pair. When a sighting consisted of more than one animal, first targetedanimal was selected following the random sampling digits. Sampling was made by 50 mm whaling
cannon. Once the vessel sampled the whale, she returned to the Kushiro port as soon as possible, toland the animal on the research station. At the port, the sampled whale was lift up from the vesselusing wire nets and a crane and transported to the station by an 11 tons freight trailer. At that time,
body weight of the whale was measured with the truck scale.

Biological research for common minke whales sampled
All sampled whales were biologically examined by researchers at the research station. Research
items of the biological studies were summarized in Table 3, with the number of data and samples
obtained. These items were related to studies on feeding ecology, stock structure, life historicalbiology and pollutions.

RESULTS
Effort and sightings by the sampling vessels
The cruise tracks made by the sampling vessels (28T, 75K, 31S and 7K) during the survey are shownin Fig.2. The searching areas covered widely coastal waters within 30 nautical miles form theKushiro port. Searching distance and time are shown in Table 1. Here, we defined the searching
distance and time as that with sighting effort, i.e. the periods of the searching conducted from the top
barrel. During the research period, total searching distance and time were 6,827.7 n. miles and 637.6
hours, respectively.

Fig.3 shows distribution of common minke whales sighted by the sampling vessels. Sighting
positions widely distributed in inshore areas off Kushiro port to the waters in around 30 n. miles
from the port, and relatively concentrated in the southeastern side of the research area on thecontinental shelf and slope. During the survey, a total of 98 schools/ 99 individuals of common
minke whales were sighted, consisting of 85 schools/ 86 individuals of primary sightings and 13
schools/ 13 individuals of secondary sightings (Table 1). These figures probably include someduplicated sightings because sampling vessels searched almost same areas in every day. In addition,
Humpback whale (1 school/ 1 individual) and some small cetaceans were sighted during the survey(Table 1).

The temporal change in density index (SPUE: number of schools primary sighted per one hoursearching, and DI: number of schools primary sighted per 100 n. miles searching) of common minke
whales obtained by the small-type whaling catcher boats are listed in Table 2. In both SPUE and DI,
distinct peak was not observed through the research period in 2007, though some figures of Octoberwere slightly higher than those of September. During the total research periods, 0.13 schools wereprimary sighted per one hour searched, and 1.24 schools were primary sighted per 100 n. miles
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searched. These figures were higher than that recorded in last year 2006 survey (SPUE=0.08,
DI=0.76, Yoshida et al., 2007).

Sampling of common minke whales
A total of 50 common minke whales were sampled. In the sampling process, there were no struck
and lost animals. Fig.3 showed sighting positions of sampled whales. Distribution of these whales
almost covered all of the areas where the sightings were made during the research period.

Prey species survey and large-scale dedicated sighting survey
The prey species survey and dedicated sighting survey were conducted by one research vessel (KK1)
to investigate the distribution and abundance of the prey species and whales in the wider areas fromwest side of Cape Erimo (142º30’E) to east side of Cape Nosappu (about 146º30’E) and northof 41º00’N. Japanese anchovy was unevenly distributed and slightly concentrated in the west side of
the research area but density in whole area was low. Small amount of Pacific saury was found in thesoutheastern side of the area around 30 to 40 n. miles off Kushiro. Walleye pollock was found alongthe 100 to 150m isobath on the continental shelf and slope. A total of 7 schools/ 7 individuals ofcommon minke whales were primary sighted during the survey with a 958.4 n.miles searching effort.
Detailed results of those surveys were described in Appendix 1.

Sex ratio, body length and weight of sampled whales
The 50 sampled whales were consisted of 33 males and 17 females (sex ratio of males was 0.66).
Average body length of the whales was 6.45m (max=7.83, min=4.31, SD=1.10) for males and 5.49m(max=7.43, min=4.23, SD=0.81) for females, respectively (Table 4). Average body weight was 3.54
tons (max=6.08, min=1.02, SD=1.66) for males and 1.93 tons (max=3.92, min=0.84, SD=0.78) for
females, respectively (Table 5). Distinct temporal change in average body length and weight was notobserved. Figures in males were lowest in late October and those in females were lowest in late
September. Large animals with body length of 8m or more were not collected through the total
research period. Composition of sex and sexual maturity of common minke whales is listed in Table
6. Maturity of male was tentatively determined by the histological observation of testis. Female had
at least one corpus luteum or albicans in their ovaries was determined as mature. In males, 15 of 33
individuals were sexually mature (45.7%). This figure was lower than that of the previous surveys,
e.g. 52.0% in 2006 and 66.7% in 2005. All females sampled were immature (n=17), and sexuallymature females was not observed.

Prey species of common minke whale found in the stomach contents
Stomach contents of all collected animals were examined except for one, which was broken by
harpoon (Table 7). Following the same methods used in the JARPN II feasibility surveys (Fujise, etal., 2002), stomach contents were weighted to the nearest 0.1 Kg by each four chamber in both cases
5Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

of including and excluding liquid. Then, a sub-sample of stomach contents was collected and frozen
for the later laboratory work. Five prey species, Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus, Walleye
pollock Theragra chalcogramma, Pacific saury Cololabis saira, Japanese common squid Todarodes
pacificus, and Krill were found in the forestomach contents. Among them, Japanese anchovy was themost dominant prey species, and found throughout the survey. Ratio of the whales mainly fed onJapanese anchovy was 38.0% or 19 out of 50 whales. Next dominant prey species was Walleye
pollock. The frequency of occurrence for this species was especially high in late September to early
October, and total ratio of the whales mainly fed on Walleye pollock throughout the survey (30.0%
or 15 out of 50 whales) was higher than those recorded in the previous surveys off Kushiro. The
forestomach contents weights ranged form 2.68Kg (Krill) to 123.4Kg (Pacific saury) and average
weight was 28.1Kg.

By-products of the whales
After biological examination, all whales sampled were processed according to the International
Convention for Regulation of Whaling, Article VIII. A total weight production including meat andblubber was 83.5 tons.

Fishing grounds of coastal fisheries during the 2007 survey period
Fig.4 shows the distribution of fishing grounds of the local coastal fisheries for Pacific saury (dip net
fisheries), Japanese anchovy (purse seine fisheries) and Japanese common squid (jigging fisheries)
around the coastal waters off northern Japan including Kushiro during the 2007 survey period (Japan
Fisheries Information Service Center, 2007). In September, many fishing boats for Pacific saury andJapanese common squid operated in the research area off Kushiro, but catch of Pacific saury in thisarea was decreased just after the whale sampling survey started, and fishing grounds for Pacificsaury was moved to slightly offshore and outside of the research area. Fishing grounds for Japanesecommon squid was disappeared in October. Fishing grounds for Japanese anchovy was distributed
along the coastal waters off Sanriku district (out side of the research area) during the whole survey
period and purse seine fisheries for the anchovy was not operated in the coastal waters off Kushiro.
The distributions of these fishing grounds implied that the amount of preys such as Pacific saury andJapanese anchovy for common minke whales was not abundant in the whale sampling area during
the 2007 research periods, especially in October.

DISCUSSION
The present survey was the fifth survey of the JARPN II coastal component in the autumn season off
Kushiro. There was no practical problem in conducting the surveys as same as the previous surveys.
However, bad weather conditions such as typhoons, low atmospheric pressures and thick fog often
disturbed research activities. Of total 52 day survey period from 10 September to 31 October,sampling vessels could conduct the research for 35 days or 67.5% of the time. This was almost same6

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in the last year survey (70.6% in 2006). In the last year survey, unusually high sea surface
temperature was observed and migration of common minke whales into the research area wasthought to be extremely low (Yoshida et al., 2007). In 2007, apparent warm water mass was notobserved in the research area, and the sea surface temperature ranged from 13.2℃ to 19.8℃(average: 16.0℃) in September and 11.4℃ to 16.0℃ (Average: 13.7℃) in October. These figures
were lower than that of 2006 and the density index of common minke whales recorded by the
sampling vessels in 2007 was higher than that of the 2006 survey. These results suggested that the
migration of common minke whales in 2007 was more abundant than 2006 and the bad whether
condition to disturb research activities was thought to be a major reason which did not reach aplaned sample size in the 2007 survey.

Frequency distribution of body length of common minke whales collected in 2007 was similar to
those in 2006, but large animals with body length of 8m or more were not observed, and the ratio of
sexually mature individuals was lower than that of the previous surveys, and furthermore, mature
female was not collected. These results suggested that the migration of main groups of common
minke whales including mature females into the research area was scarce in 2007, as supposed in
2004 and 2005 (Kishiro, et al. 2005; 2006). This might be related to the low density of prey species
such as Pacific saury and Japanese anchovy suggested from the results of the prey species survey(Appendix 1) and the fishing grounds for these prey species (Fig. 4).

Composition of prey species found in the stomach contents in the present survey was apparently
different and the ratio of the whales fed on walleye Pollock was relatively high in 2007 comparedwith the results of the previous surveys conducted in 2002 to 2006 (Fig.6). Larger and mature whales
tend to take Pacific saury and common squid, while immature whales mainly took walleye Pollock(Fig.7). These results suggested the possible difference in the food preference between mature andimmature individuals in the coastal waters off Kushiro in autumn season, although the stomach
contents might be also related to the distribution of prey species and catch position of each whale(Fig.8), and further analysis is needed.

It has been six years since the coastal survey off Kushiro was started in 2002 as a part of the
full-scale JARPN II surveys. The analyses of the samples and data obtained through the surveys areon going with respect to the various aspects such as the feeding ecology, stock structure, pollution
studies, and ecosystem modeling. These progress and results will be presented at the future IWC
review meeting for the JARPN II.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors are greatly indebted to Dr. Hiroshi Hatanaka, the project leader of the full-scale JARPN
II surveys, the Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), Dr. Seiji Ohsumi (ICR) and Mr. Hideki
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Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Moronuki, the Fisheries Agency of Japan for their guidance and implementation of the research. We
thank to all crew of the research vessels and all staff of the land station and the Japanese small-typewhaling association. We also thank to the staff of the Kushiro City and the Kushiro Fisheries
Cooperative Union for their kind assistance in the implementation of the research.

REFERENCES
Fujise, Y., Tamura, T., Bando, T., Watanabe, H., Kiwada, H., Otani, S., Kanda, N., Yasunaga, G.,
Mogoe, T., Konishi, K., Inamori, M., Shigemune, H. and Tohyama, D. 2002. Cruise report of thefeasibility study of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western
North Pacific-Phase II (JARPN II) in 2001. Paper SC/54/O16 submitted to the 54th IWC ScientificCommittee, 51pp.
Government of Japan, 2002. 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., Tamura, T., Kato, H. and Kawahara, S. eds.), 2004a. Someconsiderations of the feasibility components of the JARPN II research plan. Paper SC/56/O2
submitted to the 56th IWC Scientific Committee, 36pp.
Government of Japan, 2004b. Revised research plan for cetacean studies in the western North Pacificunder special permit (JARPN II). Paper SC/56/O1 submitted to the 56th IWC ScientificCommittee, 14pp.
International Whaling Commission. 2005. Report of the Scientific Committee. J. Cetacean Res.
Manage. 7 (suppl.):1-411.
International Whaling Commission. 2006. Report of the Scientific Committee. J. Cetacean Res.
Manage. 8 (suppl.):1-XXX.
International Whaling Commission. 2007. Report of the Scientific Committee. J. Cetacean Res.
Manage. 9 (suppl.):(in press).
Japan Fisheries Information Service Center, 2007. Information on fisheries and oceanographic
conditions around Japan. No.161-168 (in Japanese).
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. Reportof 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 ScientificCommittee, 26pp.
Kishiro, T., Kato, H., Yoshida, H., Miyashita, T., Ryono, T., Tabata, S., Okamoto, R., Yasui, K., Sato,
H., Morita, Y., Saino, S., Hara, T., Ebisui, T., Kuroishi, H., Nishiwaki, S. and Kawahara, S. 2005.
Cruise report of the coastal survey on common minke whales off Kushiro, northeast Japan: the2004 JARPN II survey (Part II)-Coastal component. Paper SC/57/O4 submitted to the 57th IWC
Scientific Committee, 37pp.
Kishiro, T., Kato, H., Yoshida, H., Miyashita, T., Ryono, T., Tabata, S., Yasui, K., Sato, H., Morita, Y.,8

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Kumagaya, K., Tokuda, D., Nakai, K., Funabashi, N., Ebiui, T., Wakatsuki, T., Sakaguchi, M.,
Houhana, T., Nishiwaki, S. and Kawahara, S. 2006. Cruise report of the Second phase of theJapanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific (JARPN II)
in 2005 – Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/58/O10 submitted to the 58th IWC ScientificCommittee, 32pp.
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 Scientific Committee, 31pp.
Yoshida, H., Kato, H., Kishiro, T., Miyashita, T., Iwasaki, T. Minamikawa, S., Ryono, T., Tabata,Morita, Y., Sato, H., Okamoto, R., Toyoda, Y., Nakamura, G., Ebisui, T., Nakai, K., Matsumoto, A.,
Nishiwaki, S. and Kawahara, S. 2007. Cruise report of the Second phase of the Japanese Whale
Research Program under Special Permit in the western North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2006 –Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/58/O7 submitted to the 59th IWC Scientific Committee,
43pp.

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Fig.1. The IWC sub-area for western North Pacific minke whales (upper) andResearch area of the 2007 coastal survey off Kushiro, in the JARPNⅡ(lower).

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Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Fig.2. Cruise tracks of the whale sampling survey in the 2007 coastal survey off Kushiro.

Fig.3. Sighting positions of common minke whales made by the whale sampling survey in the 2007
coastal survey off Kushiro. Closed circle indicates sighting position of sampled whale.

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Fig.4. Fishing grounds of the coastal fisheries for prey species in 2007 autumn season. Closed circle:
Pacific saury; Open square: common squid; Gray triangle: Japanese anchovy; Shaded area:
research area for the whale sampling.

Fig.5. Body length frequency of common minke whales sampled by the 2007 coastal survey
off Kushiro.
.
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Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Fig.6. Composition of common minke whales with major prey species found in the forestomach
contents in the coastal survey off Kushiro from 2002 to 2007.

Fig.7. Sexual maturity and body length frequency of common minke whales by their major preyspecies found in the forestomach contents in the 2007 coastal survey off Kushiro.

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Fig.8. Sighting positions of collected common minke whales by their sexual maturity andmajor prey species found in the forestomach contents in the 2007 coastal survey off Kushiro.

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Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Appendix 1
Coastal prey species and whale sighting surveys of JARPN II
off Kushiro 2007

HIROSHI KIWADA1, HIKARU WATANABE2, KEISUKE KATO1, SHIGETOSI NISHIWAKI1, AND
SHIGEYUKI KAWAHARA2
1
2

The Institute of Cetacean Research, Toyomi-cho 4-5, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0055, Japan
National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama,
Kanagawa 236-8648, Japan

Contact e-mail: kiwada@cetacean.jp
ABSTRACTPrey species and sighting surveys for cetaceans were conducted to examine prey environment,
prey preference, and distribution pattern of common minke whale Balaenoptera acutorostrata incooperation with the sampling survey of the whale by small-type catcher boats off Kushiro,
eastern Hokkaido, in September and October 2007 as a part of coastal component of JARPN II.
The distribution, abundance, and size composition of the prey were investigated with thequantitative echosounder, midwater trawl, and Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl by the research vessel
Kaiko-Maru. According to the sampling data of predetermined trawl, Japanese anchovy
Engraulis japonicus was the most abundant small pelagic fish, followed by Japanese common
mackerel Scomber japonicus. However, distributions of Japanese sardine were almost restricted
to the coastal area within 10 to 20 nautical miles from the coast where sea surface temperature(SST) was > 15˚C, and most of Japanese common mackerel were distributed in the offshore
region out of 50 nautical miles from Kushiro where SST was > 16˚C. Other small pelagic fish
such as Japanese sardine Sardinops melanostictus and Pacific saury Cololabis saira were rarely
collected. Catches of Japanese common squid Torarodes pacificus were also extremely low,which coincides with the information of the fisheries in the eastern Hokkaido in autumn. During
sighting survey, a total of 958.4 nautical miles were searched and we found 7 individuals from 7
schools of common minke whale as primary sightings, which were mainly distributed around firstbranch of the Oyashio of between 20 and 40 nautical miles from the coast. This suggests thatprey environment of the whale was poor in relation to the epipelagic small fish and squid prey.
Other potential prey species, walleye Pollock Theragra chalcogramma were distributed in the
100 to 150 m depth in the slope water area, and Pacific krill Euphausia pacificus were distributed
mainly in the 150 to 200 m depth in the offshore region.
KEY WORDS:

PREY SPECIES SURVEY, SIGHTING SURVEY, KUSHIRO, AUTUMN, 200718

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INTRODUCTION

The objective of JARPN II is to contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of marine
living resources including marine mammals in the western North Pacific, especially within Japan’s
EEZ (Government of Japan, 2002). The priority of this study is put on to accumulate information of
prey preference and prey consumption of cetaceans to construct ecosystem models. As it is difficult
to cover the coastal area by the Nisshin-Maru, JARPN II has a new coastal component, i.e. thesampling survey for common minke whale by small-type whaling catcher boats. In September andOctober 2007, the cooperative whale/prey surveys were conducted in the coastal region off Kushiro,
eastern Hokkaido, as in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. During this survey, sighting survey was also
conducted to estimate abundance of minke and other baleen whales in this study area, which isimportant to estimate feeding impact of these whales on prey species including commercially
important fish and squids, such as Pacific saury Cololabis saira and Japanese common squid
Todarodes pacificus. This document presents the preliminary results of the prey species survey andsighting survey for cetaceans. The results of oceanographic condition in the studied area weredepicted in Appendix 2.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The prey and sighting surveys covered wide area off the eastern Hokkaido, from 142º30’E to
147º00’E, and north of 41ºN except for Russian EEZ to elucidate the distribution and abundance ofminke whale and its main prey species (Fig. 1). In this study area, the sampling survey of minke
whale was conducted in the coastal waters within the 30 nautical miles (maximum 50 nautical miles)
from Kushiro. As many fishing gears were set near the shore, the waters shallower than 50 m were
excluded in principle. The survey area was divided into coastal and offshore parts. The coastal partwas further divided into east, central, west and off-Hidaka parts. Zigzag track lines were set to covereach part. The waypoints of planned track lines are shown in Table 1.
All survey was conducted in the daylight period from one hour after sunrise to one hour
before sunset (generally from 06:00 to 17:00 in local time) from September 9 to October 10, 2007.
The distribution and abundance of the prey species were investigated with the quantitativeechosounder (SIMRAD EK500), midwater trawl and Isaacs-Kidd midwater trawl (IKMT) by thestern trawler-type research vessel, Kaiko-Maru (860.25 GT) by moving at about 10.5 knots on the
track lines. Acoustic data were acquired with Echoview Ver.3 (Sonar Data Co., Ltd.). Calibrations
were carried out off Shiranuka near Kushiro in October 7 using the copper sphere technique. The
midwater trawl net had a mouth opening of about 30 x 30 m with a 17.5 mm liner cod end. The
sampling depth and the height of the mouth of the net were monitored with SIMRAD PI32 net
monitor system and the small-type temperature and depth recorders (TDR). Towing speed was 3-5
knots for the trawl and 2 knots for IKMT.
A total of 26 times midwater trawl survey was conducted. Of these, samplings at
19

Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiropredetermined stations were conducted 25 times to examine the distribution and abundance of squids
and neustonic organisms like Pacific saury that are difficult to detect with the echosounder. Target
trawl survey was conducted one time to identify the species and size compositions of biologicalbackscatterings detected by the echosounder. At each predetermined station, trawl net was towed at
0-100 m or 0-30 m. All samples were identified to the lowest taxonomic level possible and wet bodyweight of each species was measured aboard the ship. For the major species, body length of 100
individuals was measured. IKMT samplings were conducted two times to identify the species andsize compositions of backscatterings of the krill near Kushiro where minke whale was distributed.
Samples were fixed in 10% buffered formalin seawater. A CTD cast was made down to 500 m ornear the bottom where depth was less than 500 m at each sampling station to measure temperatureand salinity profile in the study area.
Sighting survey was conducted along with prey species survey in passing mode, but abeamclosing survey was also conducted within 2 nautical miles perpendicular to track line in case that the
species of baleen whale could not identified in passing mode. During the survey, primary observers
were allocated to the top barrel (3 observers) and the upper bridge (2 observers). In addition, we also
conducted special sighting survey on 7 October under the direction of the head of sampling survey
within 30 nautical miles off Kushiro.

RESULTS
Prey species survey: The results of trawling operations and the catches by species are shown in
Table 2. The detail data of oceanographic conditions are described in Appendix 2 in this report. The
preliminary results on distribution and abundance of main prey species of minke whale based on thedata of predetermined trawl are depicted in Fig. 2. Among the small epipelagic fish and squids,
Japanese anchovy Engraulis japonicus (10-15 cm in scale length) was the most abundant and mainly
captured in the continental shelf region west of Kushiro within 10 to 20 nautical miles from the coast
where sea surface water temperature (SST) was > 15˚C (Fig. 2a). Juvenile Japanese common
mackerel Scomber japonicus (19-26 cm in fork length, FL) was secondly abundant and was mainly
distributed in the offshore area of 16-19˚C SST (Fig. 2b). Japanese sardine Sardinops melanostictus(11-17 cm in scale length), Pacific saury Cololabis saira (23-34 cm in knob length), and Japanesecommon squid Todarodes pacificus (8-24 cm in dorsal mantle length) were also collected in the
coastal area east of Kushiro (> 15˚C SST), in the Oyashio first branch area where was located 30 to
40 nautical miles off Kushiro (< 14˚C SST), and from inshore to off shore area (13-20˚C SST), butabundance of these species were low (Fig 2c-e). In this year, it was remarkable that middle and large
sized nekton, Pacific pomfret Brama japonica (28-34 cm and 40-48 cm FL) and Chum salmon
Onchoryncus keta (56-71 cm FL) were frequently collected in or close to the Oyashio first brancharea (Fig. 2f, g).
The acoustic data observed at sea suggested that walleye Pollock Theragra chalcogramma20SC/60O7

were distributed in the 100 to 150 m depth in the slope water area, and krill were distributed mainlyin the 150 to 200 m depth in the offshore area. Furthermore, we also found that krill was distributed
bimodally, i.e. part of the population was distributed in the 50 m layer and another part in the 100 to
150 m layer, in or close to the Oyashio first branch off eastern Kushiro, where one individual ofminke whale was distributed. We collected these krill samples by IKMT from these two depths (seeTable 2) and its species and size compositions are analysing now.

Sighting survey: A total of 958.4 nautical miles was searched except for special sighting survey,
which search distance was 62.8 nautical miles. A total of 2962 animals of 402 schools (4 baleen
whale species and 7 toothed whale species) were found as primary sighting. Among large whale
species, 7 individuals from 7 schools of common minke whale, 1 individual of Bryde’s whale, 5individuals from 4 schools of sei whale, 1 individual of fin whale, and 6 individuals from 6 schoolsof sperm whale were found as primary sighting (Table 3). One animal of sperm whale were also
found as secondly sighting. Of these, minke whale was mainly distributed around first branch of the
Oyashio, between 20 and 40 nautical miles from the coast (Fig. 3). Bryde’s and sei whales occurredin the south eastern part of the study area where was strongly affected by subtropical waters and its
SST was 20 to 21˚C (Fig. 3). All sperm whales were found offshore region out of 50 nautical miles
in radius from Kushiro.

DISCUSSION
Common minke whales were mainly distributed in or close to the Oyashio first branch area
where Pacific saury and Japanese common squid were mainly distributed. The results of previous
three years in 2002, 2004, and 2005 indicated that Pacific saury was one of the abundant epipelagic
small fishes in this study area in autumn (Kawahara et al. 2003, 2004, 2005). However, catches ofthis species were extremely low in 2006. Although this species were collected more abundantly inthis year, its CPUE level was still lower than previous three years from 2003 to 2005. Japanesecommon squid were sometimes captured in this area and its CPUE was slightly higher than 2006
(Watanabe et al. 2007). Catch data of commercial squid fishing also supported this result.
Considering these results, together with the result that Japanese anchovy were mainly distributed
more inshore area than the main distribution area of common minke whale, prey environment of thewhales seemed to be poor in terms of abundance of epipelagic small fish and squids, although it
seems slightly better than 2006.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
A special thank is given to Captain Y. Shinyashiki and crews of Kaiko-Maru for their assistance incollecting data.
21

Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

REFERENCES
Government of Japan. 2002. Research plan for cetacean studies in the western North Pacific underSpecial Permit (JARPN II). Paper SC/54/O2 submitted to the 54th IWC Scientific Committee
Meeting.
Kawahara, S., Kiwada, H., Suenaga, Y. and Kataoka M. 2003. 2002 prey species survey (coastal
component) of JARPN II. Appendix 1, pp 15-22. In: Kishiro, T., Kato, H., Ohizumi, H., Yoshida,
H., Saito, T., Isoda, T., Tabata, S., Sakakibara, M., Saino, S., Hara, T., Hayashi, T., Miyashita, T.,
Fukudome, K., Kiwada, H. and Kawahara, S. 2002. Report of 2002 JARPN II survey in thewestern North Pacific. Part II: Coastal component – Coastal Survey off Kushiro, northeast Japan.
Paper SC/55/O8 submitted to the 55th IWC Scientific Committee Meeting, 26 pp.
Kawahara, S., Watanabe, H., Ichihara, M., Suenaga,Y., and Kataoka, M. 2004. 2003 prey survey(coastal component) of JARPN II. In: Yoshida et al., Report of the coastal survey on common
minke whales off Sanriku coast, northeast Japan: the Japanese Whale Research Program underSpecial 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 Scientific Committee Meeting,Appendix 1. 15-20.
Kawahara, S., Yonezaki, S., Ichihara M. and Murase, H. 2005. Coastal prey species survey of
JARPN II in 2004. In: Kishiro, T., Kato, H., Yoshida, H., Miyashita, T., Ryono, T., Tabata, S.,
Okamoto, R., Yasui, K., Sato, H., Morita, Y., Saino, S., Hara, T., Ebisui, T., Kuroishi, H.,
Nishiwaki, S. and Kawahara, S. 2005. Cruise report of the coastal survey on common minke
whales off Kushiro, northeast Japan: the 2004 JARPN II survey (Part II) – Coastal component.
Paper SC/57/O4 submitted to the 57th IWC Scientific Committee Meeting, Appendix 1, pp
20-26.
Watanabe, H., Kiwada, H., Murase, H., Kumagai, S., Kawahara, S. 2007. 2006 coastal prey species
survey of JARPN II off Kushiro. In: Yoshida H., Kato H., Kishiro, T., Miyashita, T., Iwasaki T.,
Minamikawa S., Ryono, T., Tabata, S., Morita, Y., Sato, H., Okamoto, R., Toyoda, R., NakamuraG., Ebisui, T., Nakai, K., Matsumoto, A., Nishiwaki, S., and Kawahara, S. Cruise report of thesecond phase of the Japanese Whale Research Program under Special Permit in the Western
North Pacific (JARPN II) in 2006- Coastal component off Kushiro. Paper SC/59/O7 submitted
to the 59th IWC Scientific Committee Meeting, Appendix 1. 16-20.

22

SC/60O7

Table 1. Waypoints of planned track lines off Kushiro in 2007
WP

Latitude ( ÞN) Longitude ( ÞE)

Area

H-1
H-2
H-3

41 Þ00.0'
41 Þ09.0'
41 Þ24.0'

142 Þ57.0'E
142 Þ30.0'
143 Þ15.5'

Off Hidaka
Off Hidaka
Off Hidaka

H-4
H-5

41 Þ39.0'
41 Þ53.0'

142 Þ30.0'
143 Þ12.0'

Off Hidaka
Off Hidaka

W-1
W-2

42 Þ12.0'
41 Þ57.0'

143 Þ27.0'
144 Þ03.0'

Coast West
Coast West

W-3
W-4

41 Þ42.0'
41 Þ27.0'

143 Þ15.0'
143 Þ59.0'

Coast West
Coast West

W-5
W-6

41 Þ12.0'
41 Þ00.0'

143 Þ15.0'
143 Þ46.0'

Coast West
Coast West

O-1
O-2

41 Þ00.0'
42 Þ04.0'

144 Þ17.0'
144 Þ47.0'

Offshore
Offshore

O-3
O-4

41 Þ00.0'
42 Þ23.0'

145 Þ17.0'
145 Þ47.0'

Offshore
Offshore

O-5
O-6

41 Þ00.0'
41 Þ45.0'

146 Þ17.0'
146 Þ34.0'

Offshore
Offshore

E-1
E-2
E-3

42 Þ46.0'
42 Þ22.0'
43 Þ03.0'

145 Þ53.0'
145 Þ44.0'
145 Þ29.0'

Coast East
Coast East
Coast East

E-4
E-5

42 Þ12.0'
42 Þ56.0'

145 Þ14.0'
145 Þ00.0'

Coast East
Coast East

C-1
C-2

42 Þ37.0'
42 Þ06.0'

145 Þ00.0'
144 Þ51.0'

Coast Central
Coast Central

C-3
C-4

42 Þ54.0'
41 Þ54.0'

144 Þ36.0'
144 Þ21.0'

Coast Central
Coast Central

C-5
C-6

42 Þ51.0'
42 Þ10.0'

144 Þ06.0'
143 Þ51.0'

Coast Central
Coast Central

C-7

42 Þ26.0'

143 Þ36.0'

Coast Central

Table 2. Sampling data (P: predetermined trawl; T: target trawl; OB: oblique tow; SH: surface layer
horizontal tow; MH: midwater horizontal tow)
A. Trawl sampling
Stn

C-1
C-2
C-3
C-4
C-5
C-6
C-7
C-8
C-9
C-10
C-11
C-12
C-13
C-16
C-17
C-18
C-19
C-20
C-21
C-22
C-23
C-24
C-25
C-26
C-27
C-28

Survey Survey P/T CTD Towing Day/
regionblock
method Night
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K
K

H
H
H
H
W
W
W
W
O
O
O
O
O
E
E
E
E
E
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C

Date
Year

Month Day

SST
( ÞC)

P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
T
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P
P

Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

OB
SH
OB
SH
SH
OB
SH
OB
SH
OB
SH
SH
OB
SH
SH
SH
OB
SH
SH
SH
OB
SH
SH
SH
SH
SH

Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day
Day

2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007
2007

9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
10
10
10
10
10
10
10
10

11
11
12
12
13
14
14
15
17
19
21
23
24
25
27
27
30
30
1
2
2
3
4
5
5
6

20.7
21.3
20.9
19.7
17.9
18.3
21.3
19.1
17.7
17.6
22.4
21.2
18.1
16.3
13.2
13.2
11.8
15.2
12.3
15.1
15.1
13.9
14.3
15.0
15.2
13.5

T
T

N
Y

MH
MH

Day
Day

2007
2007

9
9

25
25

16.2
15.3

LatitudeLongitude
LatitudeLongitude
Time
Start
Start
End
End
Start
Degree Minute N/S Degree Minute E/W Degree Minute N/S Degree Minute E/W
H
M
41
0
N
142
59.2
E
40
55.8
N
142
52.4
E
06
05
41
10.2
N
142
33.8
E
41
07.3
N
142
29.1
E
11
35
41
21.1
N
143
6.6
E
41
24.2
N
143
11.7
E
06
05
41
47.6
N
142
56.7
E
41
46.2
N
142
51.3
E
14
32
42
8.7
N
143
34.9
E
42
10.3
N
143
31.6
E
07
58
41
48.4
N
143
35.2
E
41
50.4
N
143
42.1
E
09
45
41
41.7
N
143
14.1
E
41
43.4
N
143
19
E
13
49
41
23.5
N
143
48.6
E
41
25.5
N
143
56.3
E
09
33
41
19.9
N
144
26.2
E
41
23.9
N
144
25.3
E
09
00
41
32.7
N
145
1.7
E
41
30.1
N
145
07.2
E
09
34
41
9.5
N
145
20.4
E
41
14.1
N
145
21.1
E
07
35
41
45
N
145
34
E
41
41.3
N
146
34
E
06
00
42
13
N
145
50.6
E
42
08
N
145
52
E
09
35
42
45.8
N
145
53
E
42
40.9
N
145
50.7
E
09
55
42
22
N
145
43.9
E
42
25.9
N
145
42
E
06
10
42
41.2
N
145
22.7
E
42
47.1
N
145
24.2
E
14
37
42
26.6
N
145
18.2
E
42
21.9
N
145
19.3
E
06
16
42
44.7
N
145
3.3
E
42
39.8
N
145
04.3
E
12
34
42
23.2
N
144
56.1
E
42
29.4
N
144
56.7
E
07
53
42
46.8
N
144
38.4
E
42
43.3
N
144
39.2
E
09
42
42
42.7
N
144
31.5
E
42
39.9
N
144
30.5
E
15
12
42
29.1
N
144
29.5
E
42
35.2
N
144
30.5
E
09
14
42
30.8
N
144
11.4
E
42
24.8
N
144
14.6
E
10
03
42
50.1
N
144
6.9
E
42
46.2
N
144
07.8
E
06
25
42
26
N
143
36.1
E
42
22.5
N
143
38.6
E
13
58
42
24.7
N
143
56.1
E
42
17.7
N
143
53.9
E
06
30

Time
End
H
07
12
07
15
09
11
14
11
10
10
08
07
10
11
07
15
07
13
09
10
16
10
11
07
15
08

M
23
35
28
36
02
16
53
05
09
54
39
07
58
29
15
55
35
44
26
44
08
48
39
32
02
04

7
9

40
15

Sampling
Sampling
depth (m)duration
Shallowest Deepest
(min)
0
100
30
0
30
30
0
100
30
0
30
30
0
30
30
0
100
30
0
30
30
0
100
40
0
30
30
0
100
30
0
30
30
0
30
30
0
100
30
0
30
60
0
30
30
0
30
60
0
100
30
0
30
30
0
30
60
0
30
30
90
120
12
0
30
60
0
30
60
0
30
30
0
30
30
0
30
60

B. IKMT sampling
C-14
C-15

K
K

E
E

42
42

43.4
42.1

N
N

145
145

51.9
51.6

23

E
E

42
42

42.5
45.2

N
N

145
145

50.6
53.5

E
E

6
7

50
55

60
160

80
180

30
30

Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Table 3. Result of sighting survey for large whales
Primary sighting
SpeciesSecondly sighting

Groups Animals Groups

Animals

Common minke whale

7

7

0

0

Bryde’s whale

1

1

0

0

Sei whale

4

5

0

0

Fin whale

1

1

0

0

Sperm whale

6

6

1

1

Fig. 1. Survey area and planned track lines of the prey species survey in 2007
off Kushiro. Whaling was conducted mainly within 30 (maximum 50) nautical
miles from Kushiro. 1: off Hidaka; 2: coast west; 3: offshore; 4: coast east; 5:
coast central24SC/60O7

Fig. 2. Distributions of (a) Japanese anchovy, (b) Japanese common mackerel, (c) Japanesesardine, (d) Pacific saury, (e) Japanese common squid, (f) Pacific pomfret, and (g) Chumsalmon based on the predetermined trawl samplings and distributions of isotherms at thesea surface off Kushiro in September and October 200725

Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Fig. 3. Distribution of the major large whale species off Kushiro in 200726

SC/60O7

Appendix 2
Oceanographic conditions in the JARPN II survey area off Kushiro,
northeastern Japan, in September to October 2007
Denzo Inagake*, Makoto Okazaki*, Hiroshi Kiwada** and Hikaru Watanabe****National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa,
Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-8648, Japan**The Institute of Cetacean Research, 4-5, Toyomi-cho, Chuo, Tokyo, 104-0055,
Japan
***

National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa,

Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-8648, Japan
Contact e-mail: ina@affrc.go.jp
ABSTRACTA prey species survey for cetaceans was conducted off Kushiro in September to October 2007 using
Kaiko-Maru as a part of coastal component of JARPN II. The survey covered a block where common
minke whales were found. During the survey, oceanographic observation with CTD was made to makeclear the environment of the prey. Water masses in the survey area have characteristics of the Cold water
near the Oyashio except for several stations at western part of survey area where the Tsugaru warm
water are observed.

Introduction
A prey species survey was conducted in the JARPN II area off Kushiro, western North Pacificfrom 9 September to 6 October 2007 using Kaiko-Maru in cooperation with the common minke whale
sampling survey by small type whaling boats (Fig. 1).
There are a lot of water masses and fronts in the western North Pacific.

The Oyashio flows

southwestward along the Kuril Islands and turns eastward from the northeastern coast of Japan.
The Kuroshio flows northward from the tropical area to Tohoku area, east of Japan, and reaches near
the Oyashio front.

Both major current, the Kuroshio and the Oyashio, form Kuroshio-Oyashio

Inter-frontal Zone.

Water masses originated in the Kuroshio and the Oyashio are mixed each otherin this zone and form new water masses.
Each water mass in the western North Pacific has its own ecosystem, like a Kuroshio ecosystem,
an Oyashio ecosystem, warm-core ring ecosystem, etc. So, we must make clear the oceanographic
condition around whale’s prey to build up a marine ecosystem model in this area.

In this paper,

distributions of water masses and fronts in the survey area will be described to make clear the27

Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

environment for the prey of common minke whales.

Data and Methods
Hydrographic observations with a conductivity-temperature-depth profiler (CTD; SBE 19) werecarried out from September 9 to October 6 in the survey area off Kushiro using Kaiko-Maru (Fig. 1).
Salinity correction for CTD data was not done using water sampling data.
Oceanic fronts and water masses are usually detected by subsurface temperature map, because
they are obscure in sea surface temperature distributions from summer to fall and the Oyashio water
spreads into the subsurface layer (Table 1). Axis of the Kuroshio Extension is defined by the 14
isotherm at the depth of 200m (Kawai , 1969).
defied by temperature more than 10

The warm water spread from Kuroshio Extension isat the depth of 100 m .

Intrusions are defined by temperature less than 5

The first and the second Oyashio

at the depth of 100 m (Murakami, 1994).

We

use these indices to know the distribution of water mass in the survey area.
The oceanographic conditions in September to October 2007 are detected by 100 m and 200 m
temperature maps using the monthly mean subsurface temperature from NEAR-GOOS (theNorth-East Asian Regional-Global Ocean Observing System) database.

Oceanographic conditions in the survey area
Figure 2 shows the Temperature-Salinity diagrams in the survey area.

There is no typical

Kuroshio water characterized by high salinity profile around 34.5 psu, but a little high salinity wateraround 34.0 psu which is a warm water modified by the Tsugaru warm water (Fig. 2). The
dominant water mass in Fig. 2 is the Oyashio water, which is characterized by cold (less than 5 )and low salinity (less than 34.0 psu).
Figure 3 shows temperature and salinity maps at the depth of 100 m and 200 m.

The middle

and northeastern areas in Fig.3 have characteristics of the cold (less than 5 ) and low salinity (over33.5 psu) water, especially at the 100 m depth. There is the warm high-salinity Tsugaru warm waterat the western part of Fig.3. Both of temperature and salinity fronts lie between the Tsugaru warm
water and the Oyashio water. Another temperature and salinity fronts, which is between the Oyashio
water and the warm water spreading from the southern Kuroshio area, are observed at the southernpart of Fig. 3.
Figure 4 shows the vertical sections of temperature, salinity and density anomaly along the line
shown in Fig. 4.

The warm water, warmer than 15 , is observed at the surface layer upper 20 m

depth in southern observation area, and seasonal thermocline lies between 20 m and 100 m depth(upper panel at Fig. 4). All layers are occupied by low salinity water, less than 34 psu with the
exception of southern upper layer at St. C12 (middle panel at Fig. 4). Density distribution (lower
panel at Fig. 4) shows a shape like a dome at the middle area on this section. This high density watercorresponds to the cold low-salinity Oyashio water.
Figure 5 shows the schematic hydrographic map in September 2007.
28

The southern limit of theSC/60O7

1st Oyashio Intrusion moves southward from April to November.

The position of the 1st Oyashio

Intrusion in September 2007 was at 39ºN on 142º30’E line, which was a southward position frommonthly mean location in September (40º20’N).

Tsugaru warm water spread eastward to south ofst

the Cape Erimo, and shows a front with the 1 Oyashio Intrusion. Almost all stations in the survey
area were distributed in the Oyashio water defined by cold water (less than 5 ºC) at the depth of 100
m except for several stations (St. C1-C4) at the western part of the survey area.

REFERENCES

Kawai, H. (1969):

Statistical estimation of isotherms indicative of the Kuroshio axis, Deep-Sea

Res., Suppl. to 16, 109-115.
Murakami, M. (1994): On long-term variations in hydrographic conditions in the Tohoku area, Bull.
Tohoku Natl. Fish. Res. Inst., 56, 47-56 (in Japanese with English abstract).

Table 1.

Extraction method from temperature map to determine the position of eachwater mass according to Kawai (1969) and Murakami (1994).
Target characteristics

Extraction method

Kuroshio Extension Axis

14℃ isotherm at 200 m

Warm-core ringTemperature front at 200 m

Oyashio front

5 ℃ isotherm at 100 m

Oyashio water

Area with T<5 ℃ at 100 m

Cold water
Warm water

Area with 5℃<T<10 ℃ at 100 m
Area with T > 10ºC at 100 m and T < 14ºC at 200 m

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Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Fig. 1.

Station map observed by Kaiko-Maru in September 9 to October 6, 2007.

Fig. 2.

Temperature-Salinity diagrams using CTD station data observed by

Kaiko-Maru in September 9 to October 6, 2007. Each thin line in this figure
denotes a density line of sigma-t.
30

SC/60O7

Fig. 3.

100 m temperature (left upper panel), 100 m salinity (left lower panel), 200 m

temperature (right upper panel) and 200 m salinity (right lower panel) maps observedby Kaiko-Maru in September 9 to October 6, 2007.

31

Kishiro, et al.: Report of the JARPN II in 2007- Coastal component off Kushiro

Fig. 4.

Vertical sections of temperature (upper panel), salinity (middle panel) anddensity anomaly (lower panel) observed by Kaiko-Maru in September 9 to
October 6, 2007.

32

SC/60O7

Fig. 5.

Schematic hydrographic map in Tohoku area, northwestern Pacific, in
September 2007 with station map observed by Kaiko-Maru.

33