The Institute of Cetacean Research, 4-5, Toyomi-cho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 104-0055, Japan.
Fisheries Resources Institute, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 2-12-4, Fukuura, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, 236-8648, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2024 May 16;14(1):11212. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-61831-8.
The sei whale (Balaenoptera borealis) is an important species among baleen whales in the North Pacific and plays a significant role in the ecosystem. Despite the importance of this species, information regarding its migration patterns and breeding locations remains limited. To enhance the understanding of the phenology of North Pacific sei whales, we deployed satellite-monitored tags on these whales in the western and central North Pacific from 2017 to 2023. We fitted 55 sei whale tracks to a state-space model to describe the whales' seasonal movements at feeding grounds and their migratory behavior. The whales typically leave their feeding grounds between November and December, with migration pathways extending from off Japan to the west of the Hawaiian Islands. These southward transits converge in the waters of the Marshall Islands and north of Micronesia between 20° N and 7° N, which appear to be breeding grounds. After a brief stay at these breeding grounds, the whales migrate northward from January to February, reaching their feeding grounds around 30°N by March. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to present the phenology of feeding and breeding seasons and the migration pattern of North Pacific sei whales.
弓头鲸（Balaenoptera borealis）是北太平洋须鲸中重要的物种，在生态系统中发挥着重要作用。尽管该物种很重要，但有关其洄游模式和繁殖地点的信息仍然有限。为了提高对北太平洋弓头鲸物候学的理解，我们在 2017 年至 2023 年期间在北太平洋西部和中部使用卫星监测标签对这些鲸鱼进行了研究。我们将 55 条弓头鲸的轨迹拟合到状态空间模型中，以描述鲸鱼在觅食地的季节性运动和洄游行为。这些鲸鱼通常在 11 月至 12 月之间离开觅食地，洄游路径从日本附近延伸到夏威夷群岛以西。这些向南的迁徙在马绍尔群岛和密克罗尼西亚之间的北纬 20°至 7°之间汇聚，这些地区似乎是繁殖地。在这些繁殖地短暂停留后，鲸鱼从 1 月至 2 月向北迁徙，到 3 月左右到达北纬 30°左右的觅食地。据我们所知，这是首次报道北太平洋弓头鲸的摄食和繁殖季节物候学以及洄游模式的研究。
