UNESCO World Natural Heritage sites are established to ensure the long-term conservation of natural areas. Nemuro Strait in northern Japan is adjacent to the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage Site, and attracts various trophic levels of marine species, including marine mammals. Although the coexistence of humans and marine mammals is an important issue in this area, the temporal habitat use of cetaceans in this area is unknown. Here, we document seasonal and diel changes in cetacean vocalizations collected using passive acoustic recording devices during November 2012–March 2014. Killer whale calls occurred in spring and summer, and sperm whale clicks were detected in summer. Pacific white-sided dolphin calls were recorded in summer and late fall. No cetaceans were recorded during the sea ice period in February and March. The dolphin calls and unknown click trains were significantly more frequent at night. In contrast, marginal diel changes in killer whale calls were detected. Our results suggest that the majority of cetaceans utilize Nemuro Strait at night during the ice-free period, and we provide new insights into the habitat use and diversity of marine mammals in the Strait.

中文翻译：

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在知床世界自然遗产地附近的根室海峡通过被动声学方法监测鲸类发声的季节性和昼夜变化

联合国教科文组织世界自然遗产地的建立是为了确保自然区域的长期保护。日本北部的根室海峡毗邻世界自然遗产知床，吸引了各种营养级别的海洋物种，包括海洋哺乳动物。虽然人类和海洋哺乳动物的共存是该地区的一个重要问题，但该地区鲸类动物的时间栖息地利用尚不清楚。在这里，我们记录了 2012 年 11 月至 2014 年 3 月期间使用被动声学记录设备收集的鲸类发声的季节性和昼夜变化。虎鲸的叫声发生在春季和夏季，而抹香鲸的叫声在夏季被检测到。在夏季和深秋记录了太平洋白海豚的叫声。在 2 月和 3 月的海冰期，没有记录到鲸类动物。海豚的叫声和未知的咔嗒声在夜间明显更加频繁。相比之下，检测到虎鲸叫声的边缘变化。我们的研究结果表明，大多数鲸类动物在无冰期的夜间利用根室海峡，我们为该海峡海洋哺乳动物的栖息地利用和多样性提供了新的见解。