| ISANA
Dec. 2001 No.25 |
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THERE EXISTED A MIGRATION ROUTE
OF THE GRAY WHALE IN THE WEST COAST OF
THE JAPANESE ARCHIPELAGO
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Koo-Byong Park
Professor Emeritus
Pukyong National University |
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The
migration route of gray whales is a route where gray whales migrate
between a breeding ground in the low-latitude area and a feeding ground
in the high-latitude area. The migration route of the eastern Pacific
stock (California stock) was a simple one, consisting of a single
line. By contrast, that for the western Pacific stock (Korean stock,
Asian stock), which was much smaller in stock size, was somewhat complex
in the past. It has long been known that there were two migration
routes: one in which the Korean stock (in a narrow sense), which constituted
the mainstay of the western Pacific stock, migrated between the Okhotsk
Sea and the South China Seas via the east coast off the Korean Peninsula,
and the other in which the Japanese stock migrated northward and southward
by passing along the coastal areas of the Japanese Archipelago. In
the latter, the presence of a migration route in the east coast (on
the Pacific side) of the Japanese Archipelago has been proved by the
gray whales of Ichikawa, which is a archeological material, and the
fact that gray whales had been caught off Wakayama and Kochi prefectures
since the Edo Period. It is also proved by the records of ancient
documents, which the author will cite in the following paragraphs.
A.G.Tomilin of the former Soviet Union considered that the gray whales
that once were distributed in the east coast off the Kamchatka Peninsula
and its vicinities belonged to the western Pacific stock. This means
that the feeding ground for the east coast stock existed in the area.
There is a view that the breeding ground for the east coast stock
existed in the Seto Inland Sea, but this assumption has not been confirmed
yet. I believe that the more likely area was the southern sea area
of China.
Besides these, there existed another migration route in the west coast
of the Japanese Archipelago, in other words, in the east coast of
the Sea of Japan (East Sea). The gray whales, which used to migrate
along this route, had been caught since the Edo Period off the north
coast of Yamaguchi prefecture and the northwest coast off Kyushu,
where whaling thrived from early times. Nevertheless, the presence
of their migration route has been not only dismissed but also denied.
But it can be confirmed by several documentary materials that a migration
route did exist along the west coast. Because of the limited space
allotted for this paper, I would like to present only a brief summary. |
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To
begin with, let us have a look at documents from the 19th century.
The "Illustrated Book of Whaling," by SankeyFujikawa, published in
1889, cited the words of an old whaler about 鍍he moving way of
the whales・and said: "The whales of the Choshu region are the same
ones as the whales in the Korean Sea ... The whales of Echizen and
Kaga are the same with the whales of the Ezo region and many of them
aree fin whales and gray whales. It is the same for the whales of
the Manchurian Sea ... There are many fin, sperm and gray whales in
the area off the Kurile Islands." It further said: "There are many
humpback, sei, fin and gray whales in the Kishu and Toshu seas in
early winter ... There are many fin, gray and sei whales in the area
off the Yonewaki Village in Echizen, and the whaling season is set
from March to May.・These records tell us that there occurred many
gray whales in the Wakayama and Kochi prefectures on the east coast
and also in the Fukui prefecture (Echizen) and the southern part of
the Ishikawa prefecture (Kaga) on the west coast. The fact that there
occurred many gray whales in the area around the Kurile Islands seems
to show that the east coast stock of gray whales made northward and
southward migration along the islands.
The "New Discussion on Whaling" by Tatsuo Mishima, published in 1899,
said, in explaining about the period and location of whaling, 鍍hat
fin, gray and sei whales are found off the coasts of Echizen and Kaga
between March and May.・Although it is not clear about occurrence
of the sei whale, the occurrence of gray whales in the Echizen and
Kaga regions coincides with the description of the 的llustrated
Book of Whaling.・
The "Norwegian-type Whaling in Japan," by Kiichi Akashi (1910) published
in the early 20th century said that 堵ray whales are divided into
three groups: blue, red and white; and they are found in large number
in Kaga, Noto, Awa, Kishu, Tosa, Hizen, and especially in the Korean
Sea, and their peak period is from late in December to around January."
This record, which appears to have high credibility, tells us that
gray whales migrated between the southern part of Chiba prefecture
and the Kochi prefecture, and were also occurred in the area from
the Noto Peninsula to the northwest coast of Kyushu on the west coast.
Finally, according to Masao Nakamura, "Natural Resources of Niigata
Prefecture," published by the Nakano Foundation and the Niigata Prefectural
Office in 1925, it is said that "gray whales at times approach up
to 2-3 chos from the coast, but their sighting is very rare in recent
years." The description is simple 8 but the contents are concrete.
It shows that gray whales migrated to only about 200 plus ・300
plus meters (1 cho is about 109 meters) from the coast.
The above documents seem to prove the presence of a migration route
of the west coast stock of gray whales along the west coast of the
Japanese Archipelago. Although it is estimated that the breeding ground
for the west coast stock of gray whales existed along the south coast
of China, its feeding ground was certainly in the Okhotsk Sea. The
west coast stock of gray whales entered the Okhotsk Sea via the Soya
Strait.
Takashi Sato stated in his "Treatise of Whaling in Hokkaido" (an article
contributed to the 221st issue of Bulletin of the Japan Fisheries
Association in 1900) that gray whales were found most abundantly in
Hokkaido, and it is difficult not to find them around the region.
He further remarked on their movement that gray whales migrate gradually
from the coast of Shiribeshi to the coast of Kitami from late in March
to late in June. From this we come to know that the west coast stock
of gray whales that migrated northward off the west coast of Honshu,
moved probably feeding along, to the northeast coast of Hokkaido via
the Soya Strait, after arriving along the southwest coast of Hokkaido
in late March.
When we examine the logbook dated June 27, 1848 of the American whaling
ship, Moctezuma, which came to the Sea of Japan in the spring of that
year and moved to the Okhotsk Sea after completing its right whale
catch hunting, it is recorded that they sighted some gray whales in
the Soya Strait while they were passing the strait, and caught one
of them. It seems that these gray whales must have been from the west
coast stock on their way to the Okhotsk Sea. By the way, the fact
that gray whales did not appear on the east coast of Hokkaido facing
the Okhotsk Sea in early spring seems to suggest that east coast stock
migrating northward moved northward to the eastern coast of Kamtchatka
Peninsula and did not take the course to enter the Okhotsk Sea via
the channel such as the Nemuro Strait.
The late Dr. Hideo Omura asserted that there was no west coast migration
route. As the sole argument to support his view, Omura cited the fact
that no gray whale had been caught in the Ine Bay in the past. Whaling
had been conducted in the bay since the Edo Period, and whaling statistics
by whale species for 258 years since 1656 had been made available.
Dr. Omura asserted that gray whales did not migrate through the west
coast, by pointing out that no single gray whale had been recorded
in the statistics.
Then a question naturally arises about where the gray whales, which
had been caught off the north coast of the Yamaguchi prefecture and
the northwest coast of Kyushu, came from. Dr. Omura understood that
a separate part of the Korean stock (in a narrow sense) migrating
southward along the east coast of the Korean Peninsula came across
the Tsushima Strait. If it is assumed that there existed no gray whales
migrating in the western coast off Honshu, there was no way but to
conclude that it was part of the Korean stock.
The reason why gray whales had not been caught in the Ine Bay is another
subject of further study. The western Pacific stock of gray whales
has not gone extinct yet. Indeed, there is a sign of recovery, although
at a slow pace. It is my belief that the west coast stock of gray
whales will prove by themselves in the future the presence of the
west coast migration route. |
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| Migration
routes of western Pacific gray whales |
line - Repoted routes
dotted line - Probable routes |
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