Study for Biodiversity and Conservation of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Habomai and Shikotan Islands

2000年和2001年，日本北海道的野生动物研究人员和库里尔斯基国家级自然保护区和库页岛渔业局的俄罗斯野生动物专家访问了“北方四岛”(库纳什里、择捉岛、哈博迈和四国岛)，这是为加强我们两国关系而推动的专家免签证互访的一部分。我们对该地区的野生动物进行了目测调查，主要是从沿海地区航行的船只上进行调查。2000年7月19日至28日，我们在择捉岛南部、库纳什里和四科丹，统计了1326只海豹和6种鲸鱼(305头)。2001年8月13日至27日，在四国和哈博迈群岛，我们统计了2950只海豹、430只海狮、45只海獭、2074头鲸鱼和27475只海鸟。在这些调查中，杀人鲸(Orcinus Orca)是给人留下最深刻印象的海洋哺乳动物。七个不同的群体和53个个体的观察被记录下来。这是一群虎鲸，它们位于To…更多的海洋食物链中的p，清楚地说明了这一海洋区生物资源的丰富。这些海洋生物栖息地似乎比北海道芝藤子半岛的生物多样性更丰富，尽管该半岛具有受保护的法律地位和保存完好的原始生物栖息地，但在那里很少看到虎鲸。每年海冰的冻结和融化产生一个循环，将营养丰富的深水吸引到海面。这导致了从4月到7月浮游动物和浮游动物的大量出现。随着营养丰富的太平洋海水的涌入和温暖(大豆)和寒冷(东库页岛)洋流的混合，浮游生物的繁殖持续到11月。看到北方四岛附近水域的大量浮游生物，成群的鱼从亚热带地区迁徙，大量亚北极特有物种从北方聚集。永久栖息或迁徙捕食这些鱼种的是海鸟、几种鲸鱼、海獭和六种鳍足鱼。从生物地理的角度来看，从择捉岛海峡(宫部线)一直延伸到筑路海峡(布莱基斯顿线)的区域被认为是一个单一的区域。然而，在苏联和俄罗斯联邦近50年的保护政策下，北方四岛仍然拥有从北海道消失的原始栖息地。北方四岛--包括陆地和海洋地区--独特的生物多样性完好无损，具有非常重要的全球意义。较少

In 2000 and 2001, wildlife researchers from Hokkaido, Japan, and Russian wildlife experts from the Kurilsky State Nature Reserve and the Sakhalin Bureau of Fishery visited the "Four Northern Islands " (Kunashiri, Etorofu, Habomai and Shikotan) as a part of the mutual visits without visas of specialists promoted to strengthen ties between our two countries. We conducted visual surveys of the region's wildlife, mostly from boats that traveled along the coastal areas.From July 19 to 28, 2000, in southern Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan, we counted 1,326 seals and six whale species ( 305 individuals ). From August 13 to 27, 2001, in Shikotan and Habomai Islands, we counted 2,950 seals,430 sea lions, 45 sea otters, 2,074 whales and 27,475 sea birds.Killer whales ( Orcinus orca ) were the most impressive of the marine mammals observed during these surveys. Observations of seven separate groups and 53 individuals were recorded. This concentration of killer whales, which are situated at the to … More p of the ocean food chain, clearly illustrates the richness of biological resources in this marine area. These marine habitats appear to be even richer than biological diversity of the Shiretoko Peninsula in Hokkaido, where killer whale sightings are rare, despite the peninsula's protected legal status and its well-preserved pristine biological habitat.The annual freezing and thawing of the sea ice creates acycle which draws nutrient-rich deep water toward the surface. This results in an abundance of both photo- and zooplankton from April to July. The plankton blooms continue through November with the flush of nutrient-rich Pacific Ocean water and the mixing of warm ( Soya ) and cold ( east Sakhalin ) ocean currents.Seeking the abundant plankton in the waters off the Four Northern Islands, school of fish migrate from subtropical zones and large schools of endemic subarctic species gather from the north. Residing permanently or migrating to prey on these fish species are seabirds, several species of whale, sea otters and six pinniped fish.The region extending from the Etorofu Strait ( Miyabe line ) to the Tsugaru Strait ( Blakiston line ) is considered a single zone in terms of biogeography. And yet, under nearly 50 years of Soviet and Russian Federation conservation policies, the Four Northern Islands continue to possess pristine habitat that have vanished from Hokkaido. Their unique biodiversity intact, the Four Northern Islands - both land and marine areas - are of great global importance. Less