Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research

Research project dedicated to the understanding of Pacific white-sided dolphins in Mutsu Bay, Aomori, Japan 🐬
野生のカマイルカ プロジェクト青森、日本

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Our new paper has been published in Aquatic Mammals! 🎉 We discuss our observation of calf-directed aggression in Pacific white-sided dolphins as a possible infanticide attempt! This is our first publication at team MBDR! @konnichiwadolph @mitani_yoko

https://t.co/jqfurHknTa

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

💙 2 0 2 3 💙
This was our 8th dolphin season here in #Aomori #Japan, continuing our long-term study on the behaviour and #ecology of Pacific white-sided #dolphins

#HappyNewYear everyone! Hope 2024 is filled with love, happiness & dolphins 🙏

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

It's almost coming to the end of 2023! What have been your highlights? Do you have any New Year's Resolutions (新年の抱負)?
Ours is to push our research further in 2024 & do our best to understand more about these amazing #dolphins, contributing to their #conservation
©MBDR

[Leanne Rosser @konnichiwadolph]

Thrilled to have not only graduated with Distinction but also to have been awarded the Jeremy Jones Memorial Prize for 'Best MSc student in Marine Biology' 🙏 Thanks @sos_bangor_uni for a great year & a BIG thanks to everyone who supported me💙
#womeninoceanscience

[Leanne Rosser @konnichiwadolph]

Japan I love you! So sad to say goodbye after feeling like I live here again 😅 goodbye to the dolphins for another year, it's been a super interesting season & I'm looking forward to working on @mutsubaydolphin 's next paper.
Many thanks to @GBSasakawa for making it possible! 🎌

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Today we were researching a different cetacean species, the finless #porpoise (#スナメリ 'sunameri' in Japanese). The team did a rainy morning #survey with @Etec_npo in Matsushima Bay & had 2 sightings. The 1st a group of 2 & the 2nd a larger group of around 10! #japan
© M.Saito

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

A little clip from yesterday's survey. We took #drone footage of the huge group of approximately 500 Pacific white-sided #dolphins seen off the coast of Miyagi prefecture! 🐬🐬 #japan #pacificocean
© T.Igarashi, MBDR; Abe, Minami Sanriku Nature Centre

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

@oceansresearch @konnichiwadolph @CanGeo @erinashe Yes! Definitely need to collaborate sometime. Would be so cool to compare Canadian PWSD with Japanese ones 😍

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Yesterday we did a collaborative 10 & a half hour #survey 🐬 The MBDR #team joined up again with Minami Sanriku Nature Centre continuing from last year's #research to study Pacific white-sided #dolphins on the #PacificOcean side. We also joined with E-TEC 😊🐬

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

On our last two surveys we were unable to observe any #dolphins in the bay. Unusual for this time. However, we have still been able to collect some good data this week and have had fun with the team reunited!
© Leanne Rosser, MBDR
#pacificwhitesideddolphins

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Natsuki Murayama is a master's student at Mie University. She is super passionate about Pacific white-sided #dolphins & this is her 3rd time joining MBDR fieldwork. She's doing some interesting #drone work for her studies. Here's some footage she captured this week 🐬
©MBDR

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Yesterday we gave some 🐬 presentations. Leanne talked about her master's thesis in the UK on Risso's #dolphins. Natsuki Murayama on Pacific white-sided dolphin sex differences & Sachiko Arizono on cetaceans in Japan (Mie University). Today the kids thanked us with a lovely card!

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Our annual dolphin watching trip with Wakinosawa Primary School. These kids are really invested in the #dolphins that visit their hometown. They love learning about them and get really excited when they see them, as you can hear in the video clip 😍

© Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

This morning we had a fun dolphin watching trip with the lovely Wakinosawa Primary School. There were many #dolphins in the bay. They came close to the boat & did many exciting leaps, giving the kids a great opportunity to see these beautiful animals up close
© 脇野沢小学校,MBDR

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Today the team had a great day collecting drone and photo data! Conditions were perfect for our survey and there were many groups in the bay, feeding, socialising and travelling through.

We are looking forward to getting back out to sea with the #dolphins tomorrow!

© MBDR

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Mustu Bay is unique in that you can observe #pacificwhiteddolphins (usually a pelagic species) from land! 🙏🐬🙏 Today our team took this shot during our morning #landwatch as the #dolphins passed by towards the mouth of the bay.
© Sachiko Arizono, Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research

[Leanne Rosser @konnichiwadolph]

SO NICE TO BE BACK IN JAPAN! 🎌 (All thanks to a grant from @GBSasakawa ) 🙏
6am landwatch today, saw a group of #pacificwhitesideddolphins jumping their way through to the mouth of the bay. Boat survey was cut short due to high winds but Mutsu Bay was looking tip top 👌☀️😍🐬

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

After 2 cancelled surveys, we went out with our new captain Kazuyoshi Tanaka. The sea was too rough to survey for long. Kazuyoshi is the son of our late captain Tanaka-san. We were very saddened by his sudden passing last Nov. He was a lovely man and will be missed dearly 💙

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

The winds were strong today so no survey again. However, check out this great action shot from last month on the local sightseeing boat. The weather was lovely & the #dolphins enjoyed wake riding. The water was clear enough to see them swimming underwater
© Natsuki Murayama MBDR

[Mutsu Bay Dolphin Research @mutsubaydolphin]

Although today's survey was cancelled, we did observe feeding behaviour of around 50 #dolphins during our #landwatch
Birds can indicate dolphins feeding, flocking above and diving down to catch a fish. In Japanese it is referred to as 'Tori yama'. Tori = bird & yama = mountain