A SHORT REVIEW OF ACOUSTIC MONITORING OF LARGE WHALES IN JAPANESE WATERS

Abstract

Passive acoustic monitoring studies of large whales in the Japanese EEZ are reviewed in this paper. Submarine cables to monitor seismic events have been installed on the Pacific Ocean side of Japan because of the risk of earthquake strikes. Low frequency fin whale Balaenoptera physalus calls have been detected mostly in winter time. Many fin whale calls were observed in the waters off Kushiro in the northern part of Japan. A scientific submarine cable in Sagami Bay, 100 km west of Tokyo, revealed frequent presence of sperm whales Physeter macrocephalus year around. In the Ogasawara and Okinawa archipelagos, known as breeding grounds of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae, songs were recorded using stationed or boat-based recordings.