New publication on Okhotsk Sea bowhead whales
Far east

New publication on Okhotsk Sea bowhead whales

8 August 2018
Bowhead whale. Photo: Jon Aars / Norwegian Polar Institute

Dear colleagues, we are happy to announce that new paper on opportunistic observations of the Bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) in the western Okhotsk Sea (Russia) was published in Russian Journal of Marine Biology.The English version of the paper is available under the following link:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S1063074018030082

Shpak, O.V. &Paramonov, A.Y. 2018. The Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetusLinnaeus, 1758, in the Western Sea of Okhotsk (2009-2016): DistributionPattern, Behavior, and Threats. Russ J Mar Biol 44(3): 210-218. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063074018030082
Abstract: The data on sightings of the bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus Linnaeus, 1758) in the western Sea of Okhotsk collected during eight field seasons, as well as information obtained from interviews with local residents in the study region, are presented. The major areas of concentration of the bowhead whale population in the ice-free period are determined; the whale behavior in bays is described. Data on sea surface temperature, salinity, and depth measurements at the sites of bowhead whale sightings are provided. The possible causes of whale concentrations close to the shoreline and in apical parts of mainland shallow-water bays, as well as the potential threats to the population associated, inter alia, with this pattern of distribution, are discussed.