The Mark of the Japanese Murrelet (Synthliboramphus wumizusume): A study of song and stewardship in Japan’s Inland Sea

• Main Author: Hyde, Charlotte
• Format: Others
• Published: Scholarship @ Claremont 2019
• Subjects: murrelet; Japan; avian ecology; Kaminoseki; Environmental Studies
• Online Access: https://scholarship.claremont.edu/pomona_theses/201; https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1208&context=pomona_theses

The Japanese Crested Murrelet Synthliboramphus wumizusume occupies a limited range in Southern Korea and Japan and is considered vulnerable by the IUCN. There is strong indication of a colony of Japanese Murrelets located in Kaminoseki, Japan; however, no nests or individuals have yet been found. The is also evidence that murrelets make use of this habitat during their vulnerable autumnal molting season during which they cannot fly. This habitat is threatened by the construction of a nuclear power plant in Tanoura Bay. Construction of this plant would result in loss of nesting sites, food supply, and other components vital to the survival of the colony. This study attempts to detect the presence of Japanese Murrelets in Kaminoseki using bioacoustic monitoring of songmeters placed around Tanoura Bay. Preliminary sonograms created using the R package “Bioacoustics” did not yield conclusive results regarding the presence of Japanese Murrelets as the program captured background noise but did not pick up on bird calls heard during manual playback of the WAV files. Further research must be completed to refine the settings used in the program in order to conduct a more definitive analysis of the dataset.