cetacean strandings in korean waters (34%), with a peak from march to july (51%). this is the first...
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Cetacean strandings in Korean waters
By Kyung-Jun Song
AbstractThe spatial and temporal distribution pattern of stranded cetaceans in Korean waters was investigated for the conservation and management of cetaceans in this area. A total of 154 cetacean stranding events consisting of 12 species were recorded in Korean waters from 1997 to 2004 by the Korea Coast Guard. A total of 4 species, the minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) (n=43), finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) (n=43), Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri) (n=15), and common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) (n=11), accounted for 73% of the stranded cetaceans. The majority of strandings events took place in the East Sea (n=99; 64%) followed by the Korea Strait (n=48; 31%) and the Yellow Sea (n=7; 5%). The hot spots of stranding events in Korean waters were Pohang (18%), Busan (9%), and Goseong (8%). The number of stranding events increased following the establishment of the bycatch/stranding reporting system in 1997, with a steep increase in the number of stranding events after 2000. There were more stranding events in spring and summer (66%) than in fall andwinter (34%), with a peak from March to July (51%). This is the first report on the spatial and temporal distribution pattern of stranded cetaceans in Korean waters. Future work on strandings in Korean waters should strive to investigate the causes of these strandings.
Corresponding Author E-mail: [email protected]
Pacific Science, vol. 70, no. 1November 12, 2015 (Early view)
Introduction
A total of 35 species of cetaceans (8 baleen whales and 27 toothed whales) have been
reported to inhabit Korean waters (NFRDI 2000). Data on the presence, distribution, and biology
of cetaceans in Korean waters were collected by the commercial whaling industry until a
moratorium on commercial whaling was placed in 1986. Following the declaration of the
moratorium, it has been difficult to obtain information about cetaceans. As a result, since 1986,
information on cetaceans in Korean waters has been collected by sighting surveys, bycatch
studies, and from strandings.
The study of cetaceans in Korean waters is not sufficient compared with that of other
countries at present. Little is known about the distribution, movement, and abundance of
cetaceans in Korean waters. After the moratorium on commercial whaling, research on cetaceans
in Korean waters was nearly stopped because of the difficulty in obtaining data. There have been
several studies of cetaceans in Korean waters including their distribution and abundance (Gong
1981, 1982, 1987, 1988, Gong and Hwang 1983, Sohn et al. 2001, Zhang et al. 2004), feeding
ecology (Park et al. 2002, Song and Zhang, 2014a, Song and Zhang, 2014b), bycatch (An et al.
2004, Kim et al. 2004, Kim 2008, Song 2010, Song et al. 2010, Zhang et al. 2010), ship strikes
(Song 2013b, Song 2013c), genetic characteristics (Park et al. 2004), stock status (Song 2011,
Song 2014a, Song 2014b), and whale watching (Song 2013a, Song et al., 2013; Song 2014c).
However, the majority of studies on cetaceans have concentrated on the distribution and
abundance of minke whales, and these studies are not systematically organized for the
conservation and management of cetaceans in Korean waters.
Generally, cetaceans are considered difficult to study compared to other animals because of
their inaccessibility, so stranding events are considered one of the most important sources for
obtaining information about cetaceans (Reynolds and Odell 1991, Malakoff 2001). Therefore,
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many countries have tried to obtain information about cetaceans from stranding events on a
national scale, including in the UK (Klinowska 1985, Macleod et al. 2004), Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands (Mignucci-Giannoni et al. 1999), Brazil (Greig et al. 2001, Ramos et al. 2001),
and the USA (Mclellan et al. 2002, Norman et al. 2004), although their time scales were not
exactly the same. There have also been some attempts to analyze the causes of strandings,
although these efforts are less-developed (Mignucci-Giannoni et al. 1999, Le Boeuf et al. 2000).
A system to collect and analyze data from cetacean strandings in Korean waters began with
the establishment of the bycatch/stranding reporting system in 1994. Since then, all data
pertaining to stranding events have been systematically collected and recorded in the
bycatch/stranding reporting system. According to this system, the occurrence of bycatch and the
stranding of cetaceans in Korean waters should be reported by the first witness to the Korea
Coast Guard. The marine police then analyze the cetacean and determine whether the cause of
death was natural or anthropogenic. If there is no proof of an intentional catch, the first witness
has the right of ownership to the cetacean. The marine police also report 1) the date and location
of the bycaught/stranded cetaceans and 2) the species name, length, and sex through the
bycatch/stranding reporting system. During the reporting of strandings, it it would have been
valuable to record the likely causes of strandings, but this was not done. The purpose of this
study was to investigate the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of stranded cetaceans in
Korean waters, and to use this information to inform the conservation and management of
cetaceans in Korean waters.
Material and methods
The study area included all three parts of Korean waters including the East Sea, the Korea
Strait, and the Yellow Sea (Fig. 1). There are approximately 11,550km of Korean coastline. The
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main surface currents around Korea are influenced by the Yellow Sea Warm Current and the East
Korean Warm Current, which flow west and east, respectively, along the southern coast of Korea.
The stranding data for cetaceans, which included floating carcasses, were collected from the
records of stranding events in Korean waters from March 9, 1997 to October 9, 2004 from
witness statements made to the Korea Coast Guard. The bycatch and stranding of cetaceans in
Korean waters are reported by the first witness to the Korea Coast Guard. The marine police then
report the species name based on a species identification guide book (NFRDI 2000). In addition,
the marine police measure the length, half-girth, and sex of the cetaceans. These data from the
Korea Coast Guard were analyzed to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of stranding
events in Korean waters.
<<Fig. 1 near here>>
Results
Species
A total of 154 stranding events consisting of 154 individuals of 12 species were recorded in
Korean waters from 1997 to 2004 by the Korea Coast Guard (Table 1). All were single stranding
events and all individuals were dead at the time of discovery. Mass stranding, which consists of
many individuals and many species, has not been recorded in Korean waters to date. Of the 12
species stranded, 4 species comprised 73% of the individuals: the minke whale (Balaenoptera
acutorostrata) (n=43; 28%), finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) (n=43; 28%),
Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri) (n=15; 10%), and common dolphin
(Delphinus delphis) (n=11; 7%) (Table 1). The percentage of unidentified cetaceans among the
154 stranding events in this period was low (n=9; 6%).
<<Table 1 near here>>
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Spatial distribution of stranding
The spatial distribution of total stranding events in Korean waters can be seen in Fig. 2. The
majority of stranding events took place in the East Sea (n=99; 64%) compared to the Korea Strait
(n=48; 31%) and the Yellow Sea (n=7; 5%). Similarly, the hot spots of stranding events were also
mainly located in the East Sea. Three areas located in the East Sea accounted for 34.4% of the
stranding events: Pohang (18%), Busan (9%), and Goseong (8%) (Fig. 3).
<<Fig. 2 near here>>
<<Fig. 3 near here>>
Temporal distribution of stranding
Cetacean strandings reported from 1997 to 2004 are depicted in Fig. 4. The maximum and
minimum number of stranded cetaceans was recorded in 2001 (39 individuals) and 1998 (2
individuals), respectively. Similarly, the maximum and minimum numbers of species among the
stranded cetaceans was recorded in 2001 (8 species) and 1998 (1 species), respectively. The
average number of stranded cetaceans per year was 19.3 between 1997 and 2004. Among the
four most frequently stranded cetaceans, the number of observed strandings per year for the
minke whale and finless porpoise increased from 1997 to 2004. In contrast, although the sample
size is small, the number of observed strandings per year of the Stejneger's beaked whale and
common dolphin decreased in the same period.
The number of stranded cetaceans per month is shown at Fig. 5. In the monthly distribution
of stranding events, they occur throughout the year with a peak from March to July (51% of total
stranding events) (Fig. 5). Monthly stranding events ranged from 5 to 24 individuals in Korean
waters, and the mean number of monthly stranding events was 12.8 individuals per month from
1997 to 2004. The maximum and minimum stranding events took place in May and
January/November, respectively.
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For the seasonal distribution, more stranding events generally took place in spring-summer
(n=102; 66%) than in autumn-winter (n=52; 34%) (Table 2). Although some portion of stranding
events took place between autumn and winter, most stranding events involving the minke whale
and finless porpoise took place between spring and summer. On the other hand, Stejneger's
beaked whale showed a particularly higher proportion of stranding events in spring (n=12, 79%).
<<Fig. 4 near here>>
<<Fig. 5 near here>>
<<Table 2 near here>>
Discussion
Generally, stranding events involving beaked whales have been observed to be relatively rare
in comparison to other cetaceans in the British Isles, which may be due to their patterns of
distribution (Macleod et al. 2004). This pattern was verified in many other studies (Mignucci-
Giannoni et al. 1999, Norman et al. 2004). Because of their distribution pattern, there is
relatively little known about their biology and ecology. However, Stejneger's beaked whale is
one of the most frequently stranded cetaceans in Korean waters (n=15), although they are
typically distributed in deeper waters. Moreover, although the absolute difference is not large, the
number of stranding events involving the Stejneger’s beaked whale is higher than that of the
common dolphin (n=11), which is frequently observed in many sighting surveys (NFRDI 2000).
The cause of this finding is not yet clear.
The spatial distribution of strandings is generally affected by a number of different factors,
such as the physical environmental (tides and currents) and biological factors (species behavior,
migration patterns, and feeding activities) (Mignucci-Giannoni et al. 1999). Mignucci-Giannoni
et al. (1999) also suggested that observer efforts may also affect the spatial distribution of
stranding events. For example, Norman et al. (2004) showed that strandings in the Northwest
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region of the USA were recorded most frequently in regions with high human population or
activities, particularly near towns or areas popular with vacationers. Similarly, in Korean waters,
stranding events were also mainly distributed near big cities such as Busan and Pohang, regions
with high human population and activities. There is also the possibility that this finding is due to
the relative abundance of cetaceans in Korean waters. At present, there are few data on cetaceans
in Korean waters to evaluate these hypotheses, so it is necessary to study the exact causes of
these patterns of stranding events.
Mignucci-Giannoni et al. (1999) reported that the average number of stranding events per
year was 2.1 from 1867 to 1995 in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In the same study, this
number was approximately 8.2 per year in the more recent dataset between 1990 and 1995.
Similarly, Norman et al. (2004) reported that the average number of stranding events was 12.4
per year in Oregon and Washington of the USA from 1930 to 2002. The average numbers of
stranding events per year in these two studies were lower than that of this study (19.3 individuals
per year from 1997 to 2004). Therefore, the stranding events of cetaceans in Korean waters took
place at a similar or higher level as compared to these previously reported areas. However, it is
necessary to consider the relative size of the regions being compared. For example, Puerto Rico
is much smaller than Korea. It is also important to consider the efficiency of reporting and
whether this differs between regions.
Mignucci-Giannoni et al. (1999) also reported that cetaceans in Puerto Rico and the Virgin
Islands were more commonly stranded in spring (29%) and winter (28%) than in summer (21%)
and autumn (21%). Generally, the reporting of stranding events tended to increase in the spring
or summer because of increasing visits of people to the beach (Mignucci-Giannoni et al. 1999).
The percentage of unidentified cetaceans among 681 strandings from 1991 to 2001 was very
high (63%) in the Greek Sea (Frantzis et al. 2003). In contrast, Norman et al. (2004) showed a
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low portion of unidentified individuals (11%) in stranded cetaceans from the stranding network
database of the Northwest region of the USA. Similarly, only 6% of the total number of stranded
cetaceans in Korean waters were unidentified. This result shows that the bycatch/stranding
reporting system in Korean waters was efficiently maintained for the species identification of
stranded cetaceans.
On the other hand, it is difficult for the Cetacean Research Institute of the National Fisheries
Research and Development Institute to respond to every stranding event in Korean waters.
Therefore, the help of the public and the formation of a stranding network, such as the marine
mammal stranding network used in the USA, are needed for the efficient conservation and
management of cetaceans in Korean waters. Although systematic efforts to collect and record
data from stranding events in Korean waters started in the year 1997, a national stranding
network has not yet been formed. The marine mammal stranding network of the USA consist of
various agencies including academic institutions, state and federal wildlife and fisheries
agencies, veterinary clinics, enforcement agencies, as well as individuals who respond to
stranding events (Scordino 1991). This stranding network is coordinated by the National Marine
Fisheries Service (NMFS) and each stranding event is responded to by the specific agency or
individual. Norman et al. (2004) showed that the increases in the reporting of stranding events in
Oregon and Washington were correlated with the formation of a formal stranding network in
these regions. To systematically study cetacean strandings in Korean waters, a formal marine
mammal stranding network should be formed.
Stranding data offer important information for understanding the general distribution patterns
of cetaceans in a particular area. For example, Mignucci-Giannoni et al. (1999) added nine
additional cetaceans to the list of reported cetaceans around Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands,
most with their first reporting in the northeastern Caribbean. Some of these species were
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previously scarcely observed in the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean. Similarly, during our
study period, a total of 11 species were reported by the stranding study. This number corresponds
to 31.4% of the total number of reported cetaceans in Korean waters (NFRDI 2000). Therefore,
the information about cetaceans obtained through stranding studies in addition to sightings and
bycatch reports is very useful in the study of cetaceans in Korean waters.
For some cetaceans including the beaked whales, stranded individuals have been an
important source of information on cetaceans that prefer deep waters. Due to their distribution
pattern, obtaining information about them in sighting surveys is difficult. Thus, much of the
information on the biology of beaked whales has mainly been obtained from stranding data.
Similarly, in our study, stranded specimens provided important information on the presence and
anatomy of the Stejneger's beaked whale (n=15), Baird's beaked whale (n=2), and Blainville's
beaked whale (n=1) in Korean waters.
During this period, most of the efforts on stranding events in Korean waters were mainly
focused on the reporting of stranding events and the accumulation of information about stranded
cetaceans. Necropsy studies are required to ascertain whether a particular stranding can be
characterized as natural or anthropogenic. If the majority of the stranding events were due to
human-related causes such as ship strikes and entanglements in fishing gears, it will become
necessary to mitigate the effect of these causes. In particular, one of the most serious problems in
the conservation and management of cetaceans in Korean waters is anthropogenic mortality,
which is associated with human activities such as entanglement in fishing gears (Song 2010,
Song et al. 2010, Song 2011, Song 2014a). Many cetaceans have been killed in Korean waters
due to entanglement in various fishing gears year to year (An et al. 2004, Kim et al. 2004).
Therefore, such problems have to be addressed for the effective conservation and management of
cetaceans.
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Acknowledgments
I wish to acknowledge the many volunteers who reported stranding events in Korean waters.
I especially thank the reviewers and the editor for their comments to improve my manuscript.
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the
Korean Government (NRF-2014S1A5B6035073). This research was also supported by Basic
Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by
the Ministry of Education (NRF-2014R1A6A3A01007262).
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Table 1. Cetacean species stranded in Korean waters from 1997 to 2004
SpeciesStranding events Sex
TotalEastSea
YellowSea
KoreaStrait
Male Female Unknown
Balaenopterid
Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) 43 26 4 13 9 14 20
Ziphiidae
Baird's beaked whale (Berardius arnuxii) 2 2 0 0 0 2 0
Blainville's beaked whale (Mesoplodon densirostris) 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri) 15 14 0 1 7 4 4
Delphinidae
Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) 3 2 0 1 0 0 3
Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) 11 10 0 1 1 3 7
Long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) 2 2 0 0 0 1 1
Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) 10 10 0 0 3 1 6
Risso's dolphin (Grampus griseus) 6 5 0 1 0 1 5
Rough-toothed dolphin (Steno bredanensis) 1 0 0 1 0 1 0
Phocoenidae
Finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) 43 14 2 27 3 7 33
Harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) 8 8 0 0 4 2 2
Unknown species
Unknown dolphin species 8 5 0 3 0 1 7
Unknown cetacean species 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
Total 154 99 7 48 27 37 90
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Table 2. Seasonal distribution of stranding events for several cetaceans in Korean waters
from 1997 to 2004
Species Total Spring Summer Autumn Winter
(Mar-May) (Jun-Aug) (Sep-Nov) (Dec-Feb)
Minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)
43 17 (40%) 13 (30%) 6 (14%) 7 (16%)
Stejneger's beaked whale (Mesoplodon stejnegeri)
15 12 (79%) 1 ( 7%) 1 ( 7%) 1 ( 7%)
Common dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
11 3 (27%) 3 (27%) 5 (46%) 0 ( 0%)
Pacific white-sided dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)
10 2 (20%) 6 (60%) 0 ( 0%) 2 (20%)
Finless porpoise (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)
43 15 (35%) 16 (37%) 4 ( 9%) 8 (19%)
Harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena)
8 5 (62%) 0 ( 0%) 0 ( 0%) 3 (38%)
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Fig. 1. Map of the coast of Korea showing the three study areas: the Yellow Sea, the Korea
Strait, and the East Sea.
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Fig. 2. Spatial distribution of total cetacean stranding events in Korean waters by study area
for the period from 1997 to 2004.
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Fig. 3. Locations with the highest percentages of cetacean stranding events in Korean
waters from 1997 to 2004.
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Fig. 4. Annual number of observed stranded cetaceans in Korean waters from 1997 to 2004.
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Fig. 5. Monthly distribution of stranded cetaceans in Korean waters for the period from
1997 t 2004.
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