October, 2021 - Wildlife of Japan

2021.10.21 update

Spectacular View! Rausu Drift Ice Cruise at Dawn (Rausu, Shiretoko Peninsula)

This is a report from our February 28th Rausu Drift Ice Cruise. We were told to be at the harbor at 4:45 in the morning, so we went straight from the “Washi no Yado”, where we were observing the Blakiston’s Owl up until 4:30am. Without a cloud in the sky, the stars were shining so brightly, in the crisp wintery air of Shiretoko. We headed to the harbor, filled with expectations thinking “Today might be a beautiful day.”

As we departed, I took this shot looking back at the town of Rausu with the backdrop of mountains on the Shiretoko Peninsula.

The Kunashir Island blanketed with red. The captain announced, “Today the drift ice is very close.” Sure enough, we could soon make out the dark shadowy outline of the drift ice.

The drift ice in the foreground, with Kunashiri Island behind. It is beautifully silhouetted in the morning light. The captain let us know “The sun will come out soon.” Everyone was waiting on the deck.

Daybreak.

The Steller’s sea eagles on the drift ice with the morning sun.

The Steller’s sea eagles and White-tailed eagles started to gather around our boat (and the crows too!) Besides that, it was a really beautiful day today!

There are endless shutter clicks on the deck of the ship. Many foreigner bird photographers are on board for the tour and it is not limited to just Japanese people. The early morning daybreak cruise is quite a “hard challenge” because we had just stayed up all night, for observing the Blakiston’s Fish Owls, but this scenery is a wonderful reward for our efforts.

Photo & Text: Mariko SAWADA
Observation: February 2018, Rausu, Siretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido

*Contact us, Saiyu Travel for more information about wildlife and bird watching in Hokkaido. We can make various arrangements for your trip. We have a guesthouse, Shiretoko Serai, in Rausu, Shiretoko Peninsula.

Tags: Steller's sea eagle, Birding tour Japan, Wildlife of Hokkaido, Rausu, Bird tour Japan, Wildlife of Japan, Rausu drift ice cruise, Bird Watching Japan, Birds of Hokkaido, Eagle photography of Japan, Wildlife in Japan, Birds of Japan, Birds Photography of Japan, 知床サライ, Wildlife Photography tour in Japan, Rausu sunrise drift ice cruise, Shiretoko Serai, Wildlife tour in Japan, Shireoko, Wildlife in Hokkaido, Shiretoko peninsula, 羅臼, Oowashi, White-tailed eagle, Ojirowashi, White-tailed sea eagle, 知床

2021.10.11 update

A Sperm Whale Calf Approached The Ship! (Ogasawara Islands)

The water of Chichi-jima (Father Island) in the Ogasawara Islands, at depth of 1,500-2,000meters, are known as a place where female sperm whales with their calves observed throughout the year.

Having said that, it is best to visit this area when the seas are calmer, usually from July to October.

In October, on a day when the conditions were favorable, we headed to the whale watching area off Chichi-jima. We were lucky to encounter a group shortly after we started our search. Each of the groups was made up of 3 to 6 individuals.
Then, we found a lone calf by itself, patiently waiting for its mom, who had gone for a dive into the deep sea.

The baby looks as if it is flying, with such clear water. The calf’s body was a lighter color, but it had the typical wrinkles primarily seen on Sperm Whales, along with some scars of bitemarks from the cookie-cutter sharks.

This young sperm whale, swimming upside down towards our boat, was so close, that we could actually hear the “talking” clicking sounds on our ship!

We could so clearly see the lower jaw of the whale!!!

We parted for a little, but then it returned, approaching the boat again. This time with its mouth open.

This is the calf with its mouth wide open. We could clearly hear the clicking sounds again.

Amazingly, it flattened its fins and rotated while swimming into the edge of the ship, making the suckerfish scuttle around. Perhaps this was an offensive ?

A sperm whale swimming towards the direction of Chichi-jima.

This young sperm whale also came up alongside our ship, raised its face and seemed to look up over at the top of our boat.
The youngster seemed to enjoy spending time with us and then, eventually left and swam back to its mother and the family.

In Ogasawara, you can see these groups of females with their calves, but I wonder if we could ever see a male that comes to have mate someday? It would be such a dream to be able to see a male sperm whale in such clear water like this!

Photo & text: Mariko SAWADA
Observation: Oct 2020, Chichijima, Ogasawara Islands
Special Thanks: FISH EYE

Tags: Whale swim in Japan, Whale swim in Amami, Sperm Whale, Wildlife of Japan, Wildlife tour in Japan, Sperm Whale in Japan, Bonin Islands, Sperm Whale swim in japan, Ogasawara Islands, Wildlife in Japan, Whale Watching, Whale Watching in Ogasawara, Whale Watching in Japan, Wildlife tour of Japan

2021.10.01 update

Beyond Cape Shiretoko: Mother and cub brown bears of Shiretoko Peninsula

On a nice calm day, with no wind or waves, we cruised from Aidomari around Cape Shiretoko in search of brown bears just before Rusha river in Shari town.

Now we are starting to see Cape Shiretoko! While on the cruise, depending on the location, the weather and conditions can change suddenly with wind and waves. On this day, Shiretoko was “stable”, but there was some waves along the way, since we were on an extended cruise.

This is the Shiretoko Misaki lighthouse. After passing that point, we entered the Sea of Okhotsk where usually there is a significant difference in the sea conditions between the Rausu and Shari sides, which are separated by the Shiretoko mountain range. However, it was a calm and sunny day on both sides.

The Cape Shiretoko has a plateau at 30-40m high, but the vegetation there was cut in the pioneering days, has never returned. There is also a factor that the Ezo-sika deer population has increased too much and is ruining the vegetation. The area from the central part to the northern part of Shiretoko Peninsula became a national park in 1964 and was later designated as World Heritage Site in 2005. Currently power boats are not allowed on land, but you can observe the landscape and wildlife from boats along the coast.

Same as on the Rausu side, there are abandoned fishing houses “banya” along the coast on the Shari side as well. The terrain on the Shari side makes it much more challenging for humans to reach.

Found them…the Brown bear mother and her cub.

The cute scene of a baby bear trying to keep up with the mother bear.

This little cub is just as curious about us. Since we perhaps were catching their attention too much, so we moved away from the coast and made our way towards the mountains.