ISSN 0704-3716 Canadian Translation of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences No. 5506 Scientific research on sea mammals of the northern part of the Pacific Ocean in 1986-1987 Editor: N. S. Chernysheva Original title: Nauchno-issledovatelskiye raboty po morskim mlekopitayushchim severnoi chasti Tikhogo okeana v 1986-1987 Published by: All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Sea Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), Moscow, 1988. 195 p. Original language: Russian Available from: Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information National Research Council Ottawa, Ontario, Canada KlA 0S2 1990 FISHERIES AND OCEANS LIBRARY i BIBLIOTHÈQUE PÊCHES ET OCEANS orrAWA, OteTARIO KiA 0-E6 CANADA 189 typescript pages 91-00982/ Secretary of State-Secrétariat d'Etat MULTILINGUAL TRANSLATION DIRECTORATE—DIRECTION DE LA TRADUCTION MULTILINGUE LIBRARY IDENTIFICATION SHEET—FICHE SIGNALETIQUE Translation Traduction from: Russian de: into: English en: Author(s)/Auteur(s): various Title in English/Titre en Anglais Scientific Research on Sea Mammals of the Northern Part of the Pacific Ocean in 1986-1987 Title in foreign language/Titre en langue étrangère: Nauchno-issledovatelsklye raboty po morskim mlekopitayushchim severnol chasti Tikhogo okeana v 1986-1987 Source reference/Référence en langue étrangère: Same as title Publisher/Editeur: Place of publication/Lieu de publication: not available Moscow, USSR Year of publication/Année de publication: Volume & Issue No.Nolume et numéro: 1 1988 n/a Page numbers in original: Number of typed pages: Numéros des pages dans l'original: Nombre de pages dactylographiées: 1-195 187 Client department/Ministère-Client: Branch or division/Direction ou division: DFO Scientific Publications Originator/Demandeur: Date of request/Date de la demande: Dr. R. Campbell 10 May 1990 Request No./N2 de la demande: Translator/Traducteur: 3511329 N. De. CANADA 1 Secretary of State—Secrétariat d'État MULTILINGUAL TRANSLATION — DIRECTION DE LA TRADUCTION DIRECTORATE MULTILINGUE TRANSLATION BUREAU BUREAU DE LA TRADUCTION Client's No. Department Division/Branch City N° du client M inistère Division/Direction Ville D F 0 Scientific Publications Ottawa Bureau No. Language Translator N° du Bureau Langue Traducteur 1 , 3511329 Russian N. De. JUL • Source: Nauchno-issledovatelskiye raboty po morskim mlekopitayushchim severnoi chasti Tikhogo okeana v 1986-1987 gg (Scientific Research on Sea Mammals of the Northern Part of the Pacific Ocean in 1986-1987). Moscow, 1988, 195 p. UDC 599.745.3 USSR Ministry of Fisheries All-Union Scientific Reasearch Institute of Sea Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) "Sea Mammals" Project 02.05-61 of the USSR-USA Agreement on Cooperation in Environmental Protection Introduction This report includes data on the research conducted on sea mammals of the North Pacific during 1986-1987 within the framework of the "Sea Mammals" project 02.05-61 of the USSR-USA Agreement on Cooperation in Environmental Protection. The various biological, ecological, morphological and other material on sea mammals was collected both in national expeditions, and in joint Soviet-American and American-Soviet expeditions. The following expeditions and stationary investigations have been carried out over the past years: 1. In September—October 1987, a Soviet—American expedition to the Chukchi Sea on the "Zakharovo" hunting and fishing vessel to collect data on the Pacific walrus and ice forms of seals (VNIRO - A.A. Kibalchich; TINRO - V.M. Kogai, O.N. Katugin, A.I. Grachev - Okhotskrybvod, F. Fay - 2 Institute of Marine Research of the University of Alaska, S. Hills - Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, R. Merrick - National Laboratory of Sea Mammals). 2. In October 1987, Soviet investigators with American specialists from the Habbs Marine Institute continued their study of nonmetric characters in the common seal, as well as the structure of dolphin populations of the genus Stenella (IRB AN SSSR - A.V. Yablokov, M.V. Mina; Habbs Marine Institute - B. Stuart, I. Ioham). 3. In October 1987, a Soviet—American expedition to the North Pacific on the "Dobryi" whaler was planned for the purpose of conducting distribution and abundance observations in this part of the ocean. However, ship damage prevented the Americans from taking part in this expedition. From1986 to 1987, the greatest volume of research was carried out within the national programs: 1. In August—October 1986 and in July—October 1987, aerial surveys were conducted to study the distribution and abundance of whales in the coastal waters of the Sea of Okhotsk (A.A. Berzin, V.L. Vladimirov, N.V. Doroshenko - TINRO). 2. In June—October 1986, a whale survey was conducted from the "Tungus" research vessel in the coastal zone of the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea, as well as along the Kurile chain of islands (S.A. Blokhin - TINRO). 3. In 1986 and 1987, an aerial survey of the abundance of ice seals was carried out in the Karaginsky Gulf of the Bering Sea (V.N. Burkanov, A.G. Semenov, S.A. Mashagin, Ye.V. Karayev - Kamchatrybvod). 4. In 1986, a summer—autumn survey of coastal seal rookeries was carried out in the Sea of Okhotsk (SI Lagerev - TINRO). 5. Investigations on the harbour seal of Peter the Great Gulf were carried out (A.M. Trukhin, G.M. Kosygin - TINRO). 6. Data on the comparative characteristics of the mass of the skeleton and its elements in the harbour seal and Kuril seal were analyzed (A.Ye. Kuzin - TINRO). 3 7. Data on some of the factors that reduce the abundance of the brood stock of salmons were obtained in August—September 1987 (A.I. Makhnyr, A.S. Perlov - TINRO) 8. An aerial survey of ice seals of the Bering Sea and the Pacific walrus was carried out in April—May 1987 (G.A. Fedoseyev, Ye.V. Razlivalov, G.G. Bobrova - Magadan branch of TINRO). 9. The 1978-1987 observations on the distribution and abundance of the northern sea-lions on the Commander IsIs. were summed up (V.V. Vertyankin, V.S. Nikulin - Kamchatrybvod). 10. The 1982-1987 data on the distribution and abundance of the coastal rookeries of the Pacific walrus on the Kamchatka Peninsula were correlated (A.R. Semenov, V.N. Burkanov, S.A. Mashagin - Kamchatrybvod). 11. The walrus data from the "Zakharovo" expedition in March—April 1985 were correlated (A.A. Kibalchich - VNIRO). 12. The 1982-1987 data on various questions related to the ecology of the walrus from the Anadyr Gulf were correlated (A.I. Grachev - Okhotskrybvod). 13. The walrus rookeries on Russkaya Koshka in the Bering Sea were described (G.P. Smirnov - Okhotskrybvod). 14. Data on the seasonal and diurnal dynamics of walrus abundance were obtained on the basis of a number of coastal rookeries in the Bering Sea (N.I. Mymrin, G.P. Smirnov, A.S. Gayevsky, A.I. Grachev, Yu.V. Klimenko - Okhotskrybvod). 15. Morphometric analysis of the linear size and proportions of the turtles from the waters separating the Commander Isls. and the Kamchatka Peninsula was carried out (A.M. Burdin - Kamchatka branch of TINRO). 16. The results of the tagging of sea otters on the Commander Isis. during 1986-1987 were summed up (V.F. Sevostyanov, N.P. Zimenko, P.A. Ryazanov, I.N. Shevchenko - Commander Scientific Group of KoTINR0). 17. Long-term data on the dynamics of sea-otter abundance and feeding on the Kurile Isis. were correlated (M.K. Maminov - TINRO). 18. The 1984-1987 data on the dynamics of sea-otter abundance in the southern part of Kamchatka were correlated (S.I. Kornev, S.M. Korneva - Kamchatrybvod). 4 SEA MAMMAL RESEARCH IN 1986-1987 by L.A. Popov (VNIRO) The research on the sea mammals of the North Pacific, carried on within the framework of the "Sea Mammals" project 02.05-61 of the USSR—USA Agreement on Cooperation in Environmental Protection in 1986-1987, were conducted in the region of the Chukchi Sea in the north and up to the Kurile Isis. and the coast of California in the south. During this period, 19 expeditions and stationary investigations (16 national, 2 Soviet—American and one American—Soviet) were carried out; the participants from the Soviet side included specialists of the sea mammal laboratories of VNIRO, TINRO, MoTINRO, KoTINRO, IBR AN SSSR, and from the American side specialists from various US universities, the Fish and Wildlife Department of Alaska, the US Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Laboratory of Sea Mammals, the Habbs Marine Institute, etc. Cetaceans. A research expedition on the "Dobryi" whaler to the pre- Aleutian waters of the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean took place in October—December 1987. The research program was to cover the region of the Aleutian Isls. and Bristol Bay in order to observe the distribution of whales and, at the same time, record their abundance. The largest number of whales (finback whales, humpback whales) was encountered in Bristol Bay. There were practically no whales at all in the vicinity of the Aleutian Isis., with the exception of a small group of sperm whales in Amchitka Bay. No Atlantic right whales or blue whales were encountered. Over a period of three days, 45 gray whales were spotted in the eastern part of the Bering Sea; Minke whales were rare, and only one sei whale was encountered in the vicinity of Simushir Is. Ninety killer whales were recorded during the entire period of the expedition. During 1986-1987, aerial surveys were conducted to study the distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the coastal regions of the Sea of Okhotsk. Bowhead whales. In July 1987, forty-seven bowhead whales were encountered in Konstantin Bay, and in October they were already in Ulbansk Bay. At the beginning of June 1986, bowhead whales were seen in the vicinity of Gizhiga Bay, singly and in groups. 5 White whale (beluga). A survey of the white whale was conducted over a period of several days in August and October 1986.