| Summary: | Killer whales Orcinus orca are cosmopolitan in distribution, but study sites are restricted to small geographic areas, primarily shore-based and boat-based studies focusing on nearshore areas. To contribute understanding about the biology of killer whales in pelagic areas, we created photographic identification catalogue of killer whales sighted during T/S Oshoro-maru cruise to the northern North Pacific, Bering Sea and Chukchi Sea in 2003, 2005-2009. For 6 years, 37 groups were found, containing 182 whales, and 29 individuals were identified from left side photos of dorsal fin. No individual was re-sighted within-year, nor between-year. And no matches were found between killer whales observed in Alaska, Russian far east seas, Kushiro and Shiretoko, Japan. Our result can serve as background information for the future study of pelagic killer whales.
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