Diets of Baird’s Beaked Whales, Berardius bairdii, in the Southern Sea Of Okhotsk and Off the Pacific Coast Of Honshu, Japan

Stomach contents were analyzed from 127 Baird’s beaked whales, Berardizls bairdii, taken in coastal waters of Japan. During late July-August of 1985- 1987, 1989, and 1991, 107 samples were collected from off the Pacific coast of Honshu. An additional 20 samples were collected from whales taken in the southern Sea of Okhotsk during late August-September of 1988 and 1989. Prey identification using fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks revealed the whales fed primarily on deep-water gadiform fishes and cephalopods in both regions. Prey species diversity and the percentage of cephalopods and fish differed between the two regions. Off the Pacific coast of Honshu the whales fed primarily on benthopelagic fishes (81.8%) and only 18.0% on cephalopods. Eight species of fish representing two families, the codlings (Moridae) and the grenadiers (Macrouridde), collectively made up 81.3% of the total. Thirty species of cephalopods representing 14 families made up 12.7%. In the southern Sea of Okhotsk, cephalopods accounted for 87.1% of stomach contents. The families Gonatidae and Cranchiidae were the predominant cephalopod prey, accounting for 86.7% of the diet. Gadiform fish accounted for only 12.9% of the diet. Longfin codling, Laernonma longipes, was the dominant fish prey in both regions. Depth distribution of the two commonly consumed fish off the Pacific coast of Honshu indicate the whales in this region fed primarily at depths ranging from 800 to 1,200 m.

The Probe, Issue 204 - September 1999

USFWS to Explore Canada Goose Management Strategies -- from a press release issued Aug. 3 by the US. Fish & Wildlife Service, written by Chris Tollefson. Anti-Trapping Measure Passes House Oregon Legislature Moves To Ensure Safety Of Its Citizens Against Cougars Acord Promoted Away From Wildlife Services New State Director US DA/APHIS in Mississippi is Kristina Godwin BOOk R e v i e w : "Living With Wildlife: How to Enjoy, Cope With, and Protect North America's Wild Creatures Around Your Home and Theirs," The California Center for Wildlife, with Diana Landau and Shelley Stump. San Francisco: A Sierra Club Book. 1994. 340 pp. + index $15.00. French Shepherds Protest Predators Rabbit Calicivirus Kills 65% of Rabbit Population Abstracts from the 2nd International Wildlife Management Congress, Hungary Crop Damage by Wildlife in Northern Ghana – O. I. Aalangdon* and A.S. Langyintuo, *Dept. of Renewable Natural Resources, University for Development Studies, Tamale Northern Region, Ghana Large Predators in Slovenia On the Way from Near Extermination to Overprotection and Back: Is Conservation Management of Large Predators in Cultural Landscapes Possible At All? -- M. Adamic, Chair of Wildlife Ecology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia Human-wolf Conflicts in the East Baltic: Past, Present, and Future -- Z. Andersone*, L. Balciauskas, and H. Valdmann., *Kemeri National Park, KemeriJurmala, Latvia Gray Wolf Restoration in the Northwestern United States -- E.E. Bangs*, J.A. Fontaine, D.W. Smith, C. Mack, and C. C. Niemeyer, *U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Helena, MT The Impact of Changing U.S. Demographics on the Future of Deer Hunting -- R. D. Brown, Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX Management of Overabundant Marcropods in Nature Reserves: 6 Case Studies from Southeastern Australia -- G. Coulson, Dept. of Zoology,University of Melbourne,Parkville, Victoria, Australia