Technical Reports of the Ins�tute of Cetacean Research (2020)

pp. 57–58

Technical Report-Note (not peer reviewed)

Satellite-monitored tracking of Antarc�c minke and ﬁn whales underthe ﬁrst JASS-A survey in the 2019/2020 austral summer season
Kenji Konishi*, Tatsuya Isoda and Taiki Katsumata
Institute of Cetacean Research, 4–5 Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104–0055, Japan*Contact e-mail: konishi@cetacean.jp
skin biopsy samples for gene�c analyses were obtained
from the same satellite-tagged whales. The details of thepla�orm and equipment for satellite-monitored tagging
were described in Konishi and Isoda (2019) and Konishiet al. (2020).
During the ﬁrst JASS-A survey, the tag deployments
were conducted from the end of January to early February 2020 in the western part of the Interna�onal Whaling
Commission (IWC) Management Area III, in the longitudinal sector between 000°E and 015°E. The tags weresuccessfully deployed on eight Antarc�c minke and ten
ﬁn whales (Table 1). Tracking informa�on was received
from ﬁve Antarc�c minke (Figure 1) and nine ﬁn (Figure 2) whales. In the case of Antarc�c minke whale PTT
ID 181817, which was tagged on 2 February 2020, track-

The Japanese Abundance and Stock structure Surveys inthe Antarc�c (JASS-A) commenced in the 2019/20 australsummer season. The main research objec�ves of JASS-A
are 1) the study of the abundance and abundance trendsof large whale species, and 2) the study of the distribu�on, movement and stock structure of large whale species (GOJ, 2019; Isoda et al., this issue). One of the techniques proposed for the research on main objec�ve 2)
was satellite tagging.
Implantable satellite-monitored tags (SPOT6-type;Wildlife Computers, Redmond, Washington, USA) wereused for tracking Antarc�c minke and ﬁn whales during
the ﬁrst JASS-A survey in the 2019/20 austral summer
season on board of the research vessel Yushin Maru
No.2 (YS2) (see Isoda et al., this issue). When possible,

Table 1
Summary of the satellite-monitored tagging for Antarc�c minke and ﬁn whales in the 2019/20 JASS-A survey.
No.

Date ofdeploymentSpecies

SchoolsizeLa�tude(°S)

Longitude(°E)

Es�mated bodylength (m)*PTT ID

Biopsy samples

12345678
9
1011
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

2020/1/21
2020/1/24
2020/1/24
2020/1/26
2020/1/26
2020/1/27
2020/1/30
2020/2/1
2020/2/1
2020/2/1
2020/2/1
2020/2/1
2020/2/2
2020/2/2
2020/2/2
2020/2/3
2020/2/4
2020/2/6

Fin
Fin
Fin
Fin
Fin
Fin
Ant. Minke
Ant. Minke
Ant. Minke
Fin
Fin
Fin
Ant. Minke
Ant. Minke
Ant. Minke
Ant. Minke
Ant. Minke
Fin

12
1
4
3
5
2
1
1
2
6
6
2
1
1
1
1
3

67.3
61.6
61.2
61.5
61.9
64.4
68.8
68.7
68.5
68.4
68.4
68.4
68.5
68.6
68.5
68.4
65.8
63.0

11.0
7.6
7.3
5.9
5.7
4.2
12.8
13.7
14.1
14.3
14.5
14.5
14.6
15.0
14.5
13.5
13.4
15.1

23.1
20.1
19.7
19.4
20.5
19.5
7.6
7.5
7.9
19.6
20.1
20.3
7.6
7.0
6.2
6.4
5.7
18.8

66629
66641
66628
181812
181818181816
181813
181811
181821
181819181824
181820181817
181815
18181066627
181822
181814

YN
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y

*Body lengths of whales were es�mated by the researcher on board.
Tagging experiments in No. 11 and 12 were from the same school.
57

Technical Reports of the Ins�tute of Cetacean Research (2020)

ing was s�ll ongoing as of mid-August 2020. This whale
showed a long longitudinal movement before star�ngmigra�on to the north (Figure 1).
These tracking data will be analyzed in conjunc�onwith previous data obtained under NEWREP-A to inves�gate distribu�on, movement and stock structures ofthese whales under main objec�ve 2) of JASS-A.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Figure 1.

Tracking lines of ﬁve Antarc�c minke whales tagged
during the ﬁrst JASS-A survey, as of 13th August2020. The lines are plo�ed using all ARGOS Loca�onClasses.

The authors thank the crew and researchers of the ﬁrst
JASS-A survey for their work on whale tagging and biopsy
sampling. The authors also thank the Fisheries Agency ofJapan for the ﬁnancial support of JASS-A and to the Ins�tute of Cetacean Research for logis�cal support. Thanks
also to Luis A. Pastene for his assistance in preparing thisreport.

REFERENCES

Figure 2.

58

Tracking lines of nine ﬁn whales tagged during theﬁrst JASS-A survey. The lines are plo�ed using all
ARGOS Loca�on Classes.

Government of Japan. 2019. Outline of a research program
to inves�gate the abundance, abundance trends and stock
structure of large whales in the Indo-Paciﬁc region of theAntarc�c, including a survey plan for the 2019/20 australsummer season. Paper SC/68a/ASI8 presented to the IWC
Scien�ﬁc Commi�ee, May 2019 (unpublished). 16 pp. [Paperavailable from the IWC Secretariat].
Konishi, K. and Isoda, T. 2019. The pla�orm and equipment forsatellite-monitored tagging experiments in NEWREP-A andNEWREP-NP. Technical Reports of the Institute of Cetacean
Research (TEREP-ICR) No. 3: 52–54.
Konishi, K., Isoda, T., Bando, T., Minamikawa, S. and Kleivane,
L. 2020. Antarc�c minke whales ﬁnd ice gaps along the iceedge in foraging grounds of the Indo-Paciﬁc sector (60°E and140°E) of the Southern Ocean. Polar Biol. 43 (4): 343–357.