After moving back to the UK last July I had resigned myself to the fact that I may not be back in Japan for a while. The distance, finances and intensity of my master’s course all dampened my hopes of returning for the 2023 dolphin season. I gave up looking for research grants to get me there as my master’s work quickly took over my life. As one last roll of the dice, I asked my colleagues in Japan to apply for the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation funding on my behalf and to my surprise it paid off. I was soon on my way to Aomori to continue our Pacific white-sided dolphin research for the 6th year running.
My usual journey to Mutsu Bay used to involve a short flight from Osaka and a lovely train journey along the coast of the bay. This year it took days of travelling across the globe but when those lush green mountains lining the port finally came into view I felt like I had returned home. All fieldwork, especially boat-based fieldwork, is at the mercy of the weather and so our first few days were limited to landwatches due to strong winds, followed by one rough boat survey that was cut short with no dolphins spotted. Wakinosawa is an important site for Pacific white-sided dolphins, offering a unique opportunity to spot these usually pelagic dolphins from land. We could even observe feeding behaviour from land and monitor where the dolphins are early in the morning whilst the fishermen are still out retrieving their catch. Our first proper day out on the water was accompanied by some squeal-inducing bow riding. Watching these strikingly beautiful dolphins just below the bow of the boat, catching their eye as they roll on their side to look up at us is my absolute favourite behaviour to observe. As the dolphins are too close during this behaviour for me to get effective photo-ID shots, it gives me a chance to put down the camera and really soak up the moment. This year was the first year under captain Kazuyoshi Tanaka after the sudden passing of his father and our beloved captain Tanaka-san who had guided our surveys since the beginning of this project. The Tanaka family are local scallop fishermen and so it is very fortunate to be able to continue benefiting from their generational knowledge of the bay, keeping our research in the family and Tanaka-san’s memory alive.
Every year we team up with Wakinosawa Primary School for a dolphin watching trip and school talk. This year the kids were treated to the dolphins socialising, tail slapping and leaping out of the water in unison much to the kids’ delight. Every surface from the dolphins evoked gasps and shouts of awe from the children. Their interest and love for these creatures is seemingly unwaning as they grow up. After the trip three members of the MBDR team gave talks at the school. I started things off with my master’s thesis work on Risso’s dolphins, Mie University student Natsuki followed chatting about her master’s thesis on the group dynamics of the Mutsu Bay dolphins and Sachiko (Mie University staff member) finished by highlighting her photos of the various cetacean species that can be seen around Japan. The kids were completely engaged throughout answering every question asked as well as picking our brains with a multitude of their own curious thoughts on cetaceans. The next day they even gifted us with sweet thank you cards that they had made.
The best boat survey was saved for World Oceans Day. We came across a large group socialising, displaying some unique behaviours, and so we stayed with them longer than usual to document this fascinating encounter. This year Natsuki had brought her drone skills to the bay and so we were able to capture the dolphin’s time spent in the bay from above. This proved especially useful when boat surveys were cancelled and Natsuki could send her drone out to sea to observe the dolphins during landwatches. The last two surveys were highly unusual in that no dolphins were spotted, even after three hours of searching along the Wakinosawa coast. Although we can’t say for sure at this point if the dolphins had left the bay early, it is an interesting piece of information to take forward. Monitoring if the changing climate is having an effect on dolphin distribution and timing to the bay is important as well as whether these changes are having an impact on their behaviour.
Continuing from last year's research in which we expanded our study to the Pacific Ocean side, we made the long drive to Miyagi prefecture to work with Minamisanriku Nature Centre once again. Our first survey began early, lasting 10 and a half hours, and was joined by a few new faces, some of whom were studying the albatross species found in these waters. Although the waves were a little rough we were able to find our target species, passing a few glimpses of whales and sharks on the way, accompanied by various albatross and shearwaters. Our captain was tipped off to a sighting of a huge Pacific white-sided dolphin group that we set off to find. A mixed-sex group of around 500 individuals were travelling together. We recorded their behaviour with our drone whilst attempting to also get photo-ID shots as the boat rose and fell with the waves. Due to an approaching typhoon our planned second survey was cancelled but we used this time to go over the drone footage and photos recorded the previous day, trying to piece together the information collected. Our study in the Pacific Ocean is proving an interesting comparison to Mutsu Bay and I am excited to see where this research leads us, hopefully filling the gaps in our knowledge about this species’ migration patterns.
To end this year’s fieldwork MBDR director Igarashi-san had planned a survey to begin some new research on the finless porpoise that inhabit Matsushima Bay, a famous bay south of Minamisanriku renowned for being one of the top scenic views in Japan. Unfortunately the conditions were the worst I have ever experienced on a survey as it was absolutely pouring with rain for the entire survey. However, this didn’t faze the porpoise and we were able to observe two groups, one small group of 2 and another larger group travelling at high speed. Finless porpoise are notoriously difficult to spot due to their small size and lack of dorsal fin, only revealing part of their pale backs as they surface. We were also joined by a TV crew who were recording the survey and afterwards conducted an interview with the team. My level of Japanese was definitely too rusty to be comfortable giving interviews about dolphin research though and being soaked through isn’t the best look for TV!
After the fun of fieldwork comes the many hours of sitting behind a computer, trying to make sense of all the data collected, searching for any recognisable dolphins matching those in our catalogue. I’m excited to reveal more about these incredible and intriguing dolphins that visit Mutsu Bay.
Many Thanks to The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation for making this year's research trip possible for me.