The annual IWC-Pacific Ocean Whale and Ecosystems Research (POWER) scientific cruise is now on its way to this year's designated research area in the North Pacific.

The IWC-POWER programme is a long-term and multinational study of the North Pacific, focused on areas where cetacean surveys have not been conducted for decades.

Detecting trends in numbers of long-lived animals like whales takes considerable time and relies on regular and long-term surveys. IWC-POWER is now in its fifteenth year and builds on the success of a previous long-term programme, SOWER, which was conducted in the Southern Ocean from 1996 – 2010.

The survey is designed by the IWC Scientific Committee and reviewed annually.  Each IWC-POWER cruise identifies a specific research area and this is the first survey to incorporate the Arctic Ocean as well as the eastern Bering Sea.

This year’s main objectives include collection of information on humpback, gray and the rare North Pacific right whale. Oceanographic information, such as sea water temperature and occurrence of marine debris will also be recorded.

The ship will be at sea for 70 days. Scientists from Japan will be joined by US colleagues at Dutch Harbour, Alaska. The team will take biopsy samples and acoustic recordings as well as conducting sightings surveys, using photographs to identify individual animals and gain information on their movements, reproduction and evidence of interactions with ships or fishing gear.

The IWC-POWER programme is a collaboration with the Government of Japan who generously provide the research vessel and 16-person crew. A report of the cruise will be presented to the Scientific Committee.

Read more about the IWC-POWER programme here.