Conservation Issues (under construction)
Oil & Gas Development in the Sea of Okhotsk
RWs in the Sea of Okhotsk, Russia & oil and gas development off Sakhalin Island
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Japanese research vessels in the Sea of Okhotz
reported 28 sightings of right whaes in the Sea of Okhotsk. From this sample, the
Japanese scientists estimated a population of 900 right whales in the Sea of Okhotsk,
albeit with low confidence intervals (90% CI = 400-2,100). Since these sightings
were made in what Russia perceives as its territorial waters, it has been difficult
to get back there. After a gap of 14 years, Japanese researchers were able to resurvey
this area in 2005 and apparently saw similar numbers of right whales in the same
area.
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