by Yevgeniya SIDOROVA, journalist

On September 24-28, 2012, the 7th International Conference "Marine Mammals of Holarctic Region", organized by the Marine Mammal Council was convened in Suzdal. Specialists from Russia, Ukraine, USA, Great Britain, Canada, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Japan, Kazakhstan, and Iran met to discuss the latest results of studies of whales and dolphins, walruses and seals, sea otters and polar bears. Today the scientists have rich data on dynamics of populations of these animals, their migrations, genetics, however, a great number of questions remain unanswered. The participants of the forum spoke about necessity of generalization of the data, received by teriologists of different countries.

The range of the subjects discussed at the conference, which was attended by representatives of 79 organizations from 11 countries of the world, was very wide and a great number of reports deserve a special attention, so interesting were subjects, methods of studies and conclusions, the scientists arrived at. But, any effort to comprehensively discuss all problems within the framework of one article are destined to be a failure. Therefore, we will deal with some problems of sea technology, which were reflected in the reports of the participants and are important for effective protection of animals.

THE ACHILLES HEEL OF WHALES

The works, connected with the studies of whales, make up 54 percent of all research related to sea mammals. And it is not accidental. "Whales are a mystery for man,"-- said the chairman of the Organizational Committee of the Conference "Sea Mammals of Holarctic Region* VII", RAS corresponding member Alexei Yablokov.--"In contradistinction to a majority of animals, they spend a

* Holarctic Region--the biggest biogeographical region of the Earth, enclosing a greater part of the Northern hemisphere with peculiar flora and fauna. Its southern border runs along the north of Mexico, includes islands of Cabo Verde, further along the northern edge of Sahara, Arabian Peninsula, Himalayas, south of China, includes Taiwan and Japan.--Ed.

minimal period of time on getting food. They are clever. Due to the capacity to study and grasp low-frequency signals they can transfer information at a distance of hundreds and thousands of kilometers. But, sometimes their actions are inexplicable from the positions of present-day scientific knowledge. What, for example, makes a female run aground with its young reared by her?"

Such cases of death of whales are not rare--information about them systematically come from different parts of the World Ocean starting from the 18th century. Among the most probable (though not single) causes, specialists name a loss of the capacity to find their bearings by these animals, which, for example, in dolphins can happen due to failures in the echolocation system. Of the same opinion is an outstanding Russian researcher of sea mammals, Dr. Sc. (Biol.), Avenir Tomilin (1912-2000)--this conference was devoted to his centenary. The scientist wrote Volume 9 of Whales from the well-known series Animals of the USSR and Neighboring Countries (Animals of Eastern Europe and Northern Asia), published by the Publishing House of the USSR AS in 1957. Tomilin's works have not lost their topicality even today. "'Mass suicide' of whales is explained by 'misfire' of hydrolocator",--we read in his popular science book In the World of Whales and Dolphins (1974).

The anthropogenic noise can contribute to disorientation of whales. It is not accidental that the reports, devoted to the studies of its influence on the life of inhabitants of the ocean, occupied a special place in the program of the conference. Thus, the head of the laboratory of noises and fluctuations of the noise in the ocean of the RAS Institute of Oceanology named after P. Shir-shov (Moscow), Cand. Sc. (Phys. & Math.), Alexander Vedenev, speaking at the plenary meeting, pointed out: the most complex link in the studies of this influence on the population is getting of data on the influence on the individual in the course of all his life. Meanwhile, the "map of noises of the World Ocean" is constantly modified: globalization of economic processes results in more intensive commodity exchange between countries, i.e. more intensive traffic of vessels, forming an increased acoustic background. There starts seismic prospecting of oil and gas deposits on the shelf. This means fatal worsening of the habitat for sea mammals. Besides, the intensity of anthropogenic noises in natural conditions can essentially exceed the level proposed to experimental animals in the dolphinarium.

The research assistant of the RAS Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution named after A. Severtsov (Moscow) and Center for Studies of Sleep of the Cali-

fornia University (Los Angeles), Cand. Sc. (Biol.), Oleg Lyamin presented the results of the studies of reaction of white whales to a loud acoustic noise. In such works, researchers usually assess cases of derangement of hearing or changes in the behavior of whales Lyamin and his colleagues from the RAS Utrish Marine Station got interested in the level of influence of this factor on physiological indicators--frequency of cardiac contractions and rhythm of breathing.

The scientist stated that tachycardia in one-year old white whale, caused by the anthropogenic noise, reminded an "acoustic reaction of fright", arising in ground mammals. The frequency of cardiac contractions in the experimental animal, even in case of lesser intensity of noises than experienced by its relatives in nature, increased twice and did not reduce for 6 min. This, according to the specialists, should be regarded as a component of stress-reaction, accompanied by increasing of the tone of the sympathetic nervous system, which, in its turn, can lead to derangement of the work of cardio-vascular and other systems of the organism. At the same time, in a young, adapted to the conditions of captivity beluga whale, changes of the above-mentioned physiological indicators on arising a noise, were less evident.

As a result of the experiment, the scientists established that reaction of whales to the noise is determined not only by its parameters but also by individual peculiarities of animals, their age and by the extent of their adaptation to the conditions of upkeep and influence of loud sounds. If inhabitants of the ocean live long in the medium with an increased noise level, consequences of

its influence can be accumulated, and in the course of time this affects their health. Specialists think that the most vulnerable to this anthropogenic factor are youngs of whales. An additional information will be received after an analysis of the biochemical composition of blood of experimental beluga whales, and, first of all, of the level of corticosteroids.

AFTER THE GREY WHALE

One of the most complex problems of marine technology remains determination of ways of migration of sea mammals. However, the method of satellite telemetry-following displacements of the animal, "marked" by a special sensor,--allowed researchers to define more precisely their notions about the behavior of different inhabitants of Holarctic Region. The champion in the length of "travels" legimately remains the grey whale (Eschrichtins robustus)--a species, included in the RF Red Data Book and the Red List of International Union of Nature Protection as being "under threat of extinction"--it covers 12-19 thous. km for a year. The conference in Suzdal, in particular, the round table devoted to the problems of its studies and protection, attracted a big audience, including a representative of the American oil and gas company Exon Neftegaz Limited. The interest of the latter to this subject is quite natural: in Piltun Bay (a part of the Sea of Okhotsk near the eastern coast of Sakhalin), which is an area of fattening of the Okhotsk-Korean population of grey whales, from early 2000s there began prospecting of deposits of "black gold" and from 2007 its extraction, carried out by the abovementioned company. In order to understand how oil business affects the place of habitation of these animals and to minimize its negative influence, Exon Neftegaz Limited in cooperation with a private national company Sakhalin Energy in 2010-2011 financed an experiment on satellite marking of sea giants. The obtained results caused a discussion.

The matter is that in the course of the 20th century, scientific community was of the opinion that there exist two populations of grey whales in Northern Pacifica-- Chukot-Californian and Okhotsk-Korean (eastern and western--in English-language literature). Then, in the 21st century, there were confirmed genetic differences between them, testifying to the fact that the abovenamed "herds" do not intermix. However, the information on the routes of migrations of these inhabitants of the ocean and places of their overwintering is rather scarce, and therefore, after several meetings near California of representatives of the grouping, developing near northeastern Sakhalin (western population), the fixed concept provoked criticism: it turned out that "eastern" and "western" grey whales can overwinter together! Satellite tracking of animals, marked in Sakhalin, organized by RAS specialists, confirmed this fact--whales followed different routes, but within the limits of one migration corridor: Sea of Okhotsk, Kamchatka, Bering Sea to the north of Aleutian Islands. Here they reached the limits of the traditional route of Chukot-Californian population and through the strait between Aleutian Islands got to the Gulf of Alaska.

It goes without saying that new circumstances have not only scientific, but also practical significance. If you do not know in details the natural habitat of the western population, counting only 125-150 individuals, it is impossible to work out a strategy of preservation of these animals. Today national and foreign specialists have a

photocatalog of grey whales and constantly fill it up, and also in order to learn the history of population, analyze the information on its genetic diversity, sex composition and kinship ties between individuals. The experiment on satellite monitoring of "sea travelers" continued longer than was planned: on the day when the conference began, the grey whale Varvara was "in touch" already 885 days--a record for marking, guaranteed time of whose work does not exceed a year.

The head of the laboratory of ecology of higher vertebrates of Kamchatka branch of the Pacific Institute of Geography, RAS Far-Eastern Branch, Cand. Sc. (Biol.), Alexander Burdin, who actively participated in the abovementioned experiment and conducted the round table, devoted to the grey whale, pointed out the importance of systematic studies--the absence of regular observations in the period of 1960-1970 led the scientists to wrong conclusions concerning the ways of migration and fattening of this rare animal. And even today they have more questions than answers. The head of the laboratory of preservation of biodiversity and use of biore-sources of the RAS Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution named after A. Severtsov, Cand. Sc. (Biol.), Valentin Ilyashenko stated: it is necessary to continue gathering of information on the history of a small western population. An analysis of skeletons of grey whales, who did as a result of excess hunting in the 19th-20th centuries, could help in this--from the remains of their bones is taken DNA for consequent genetic studies. Probably, this invaluable material is preserved in Japan, for example, in local temples.

NEW THREATS FOR SEA MAMMALS

Studies of sea mammals from Holarctic Region are mostly connected with protection of species, living in this region, enclosing a greater part of Northern Hemisphere. As a consequence of global climate changes and exploration of the shelf of northern seas by oil and gas extracting companies in especially unfavorable conditions now turned out to be animals, inhabiting arctic ecosystems.* In his speech Kit Kovaks, a doctor from the Norwegian Polar Institute (Tromsö, Norway), pointed out: delay in forming an ice cover for the last ten years, reduction of the power of ice platform, which is a place of habitation of pinnipedes, drastically affects the health and number of their populations, the life of polar bears, standing at the top of food pyramid. In essence, places of habitation of many mammals can disappear. With warming there began migration of southern species of sea animals to the north, but the original population of the Arctic had nowhere to move--nearby was the North Pole of the Earth. There arose an ecological threat and this is fixed by scientists from different countries.

In the report of the group of researchers from the RAS Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution named after A. Severtsov and Lomonosov Moscow State University, who in 2010-2011 carried out observations over sea mammals in the seas of Russian Arctic Regions from board of the scientific-research vessel Mikhail Somov, was underlined: in the conditions, when some species

* See: V. Rozhnov, "The Mosaic Arctic, a Living Organism", Science in Russia, No. 4, 2012.--Ed.

(for example, grey whale) get used to areas, earlier not typical of their natural habitat, others are often met in areas not too good for life (white bears, moving to the coast of the mainland or an island), it is necessary to carry out regular monitoring of sea teriofauna.

In addition to the above-described climatic changes, there arise a lot of factors of anthropogenic influence on sea mammals. This is not only the aforesaid noise, but also contamination with petroleum products, chemical substances. This problem was discussed during a round table meeting "Atlantic Walrus", attended by members of the Expert-Consultative Group dealing with preservation and studies of this rare species (Odobenus rosmarus), included in the RF Red Data Book as having a status of "the population constantly reducing in number", and by staff members of a number of research institutes, as well as by representatives of oil and gas companies (OAO "NK Rosneft", OAO "Gazprom Neft", "Exon Neftegaz Limited", etc.). Difficulties of protection of the Atlantic walrus are conditioned by the fact that no targeted studies were ever conducted in our country in relation to them and data necessary for preparation of measures to protect these animals in the conditions of active economic development of the region are practically absent.

THE TOLERANT PREDATOR

One more scientific problem, specialists are interested in today, is determination of the level of genetic and ecological disconnection of two existing forms of the killer whales (Orcinus orca--predatory dolphins) with principally different food weaknesses and as a consequence, different habits.

For ordinary people Orcinus orca is a real threat for sea inhabitants. But, all is not so simple. There are fish-eating (or resident) representatives of the species, gathering in shoals (around 30-50 individuals) and following their prey together. Nearby live carnivorous (transit) species, preferring to eat dolphins, whales, pinnipedes and other sea mammals. They can live one by one and their "shoal" usually consists of no more than 5 animals. To find victims they even visit small bays and attack them from ambush. Due to the studies of last years it has been established: the abovementioned groups have genetic peculiarities, morphological and behavioral differences, so much essential that it is time to discuss the problem of division of the single species into two (or even more) independent ones.

The attitude of carnivorous killer whales to man surprises a lot of researchers. Even in case of biopsy by means of an arrow, shot from an arbalest and equipped

with a special device for cutting off a skin fragment of the animal, a procedure sometimes very painful, dangerous predators confined themselves to a tail blow and did not try to turn over a light rubber boat with people. On the contrary, diving under it, huge dolphins slightly turned to avoid touching its bottom with an upper, sharp and long fin. "It is incomprehensible why they are so tolerant towards man, who is hunting and shooting them,"--these are observations of a staff member of the RAS Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution named after A. Severtsov, Cand. Sc. (Biol.), Olga Shpak, who worked in different areas of Holarctic Region. She showed a video: the killer whales are moving not far from the hands of the operator and you get an impression that they are looking attentively into the objective. The expedition participants could even touch their backs.

Photo- and video-materials of the animals under consideration, shown at the conference by its participants, are really impressive. They should be shown to mass audience, as they are an emotional link between a small community of teriologists, concerned with the fate of inhabitants of the ocean and the rest of humankind. Here it would be expedient to mention again Avenir Tomilin, who not only possessed a rare capacity to generalize separate scientific data and left fundamental works, but could write about complex subjects of zoology in a popular mode: he wrote books, popular among his contemporaries. It is not accidental that this super busy man devoted a lot of time to popular scientific literature--he strived to acquaint people with the wonderful world, which he knew so well. Thanks to his efforts, new forces came to science and several generations of our compatriots have received a chance, if only for a while, to go beyond ordinariness and peep in the mysterious "galaxy" of sea mammals.

Illustrations supplied by the Marine Mammal Council, O. Shpak (RAS Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution named after A. Severtsov), O. Belonovich, Ye. Mamayev (Komandorsky State Preserve)