5. Nozomi Kobayashi
Okinawa Churashima Foundation RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Research on marine organisms

Research staff profile

Nozomi Kobayashi

Nozomi Kobayashi, Ph.D.

(Section Chief / Chief Research Scientist)

Area of
expertise		 Cetacean ecology, ethology and Bioacoustics
Research
content		 Life history and behavioral science on cetacean. Acoustic communication on animals.

Background

  • 2024: Section Chief / Chief Research Scientist at Zoological lab, Okinawa Churashima Foundation Research Institute
  • 2024: Chief Research Scientist at Zoological lab, Okinawa Churashima Foundation Research Center
  • 2015-present: Research Scientist at Okinawa Churashima Foundation Research Institute
  • 2017: Ph.D. in Marine Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. Thesis: "Habitat utilization of humpback whales around Okinawan waters during winter breeding season."
  • 2015: M.Sc. in Fisheries Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. Thesis: "Fractal dimensional analysis on complexity of humpback whale songs in the western waters of Okinawa Island, Japan."
  • 2013: B. Sc. in Fisheries Science, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. Thesis: "Distribution trend of male humpback whale singers in the breeding area in Okinawan waters, Japan."
  • 2007-2009: Research Assistant at Ogasawara Marine Center, NPO ELNA

Committee Career

  • 2023-present: Steering committee member of Asia Marine Mammal Stranding Network Workshop
  • 2022-present: Mammal Subcommittee member of Okinawa Red Data Book 5th edition.
  • 2021-prestnt: Member of steering committee of Structure of Populations, Levels of Abundance and Status of Humpback whales version 2 (SPLASH-2) project

Research papers, publications

  • Higa S, Omata M, Nakamura M, Kobayashi N, Ueda K, Kawazu I. Long-term monitoring of semen quality and serum testosterone concentration in a captive male false killer whale. Mammal Study. (in press)
  • Cheeseman T, Barlow J, Acebes JM, Audley K, Bejder L, Birdsall C,...Kobayashi N, Lammers M, Lyman E, …Okabe H,…Clapham P. (2024). Bellwethers of change: population modelling of North Pacific humpback whales from 2002 through 2021 reveals shift from recovery to climate response. Royal Society Open Science, 11(2), 231462.
  • Okabe H, Mitani Y, Saino S, Sugita C, Furumaki S, Ozawa S, Kobayashi N. (2024). The resightings of a same individual of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in different years off Rausu, Hokkaido, Japan. Mammalian Science.
  • Cheeseman T, Southerland K, Acebes JM, Audley K, Barlow J, Bejder L, Birdsall C, Bradford A,…Kobayashi N, Lyman E, Malleson M,…Okabe H,…Clapham P. (2023). A collaborative and comprehensive photo-ID dataset. Scientific reports, 13(1), 10237.
  • Stephanie S, Kobayashi N, Okabe H, Ozawa S. Studying the behavioral impacts of commercial whale watch and swim-with-whale tours on humpback whales in Okinawa, Japan. (2023). IWC scientific committee report, SC/69A/WW/04
  • Higa S, Mitani Y, Ikeshima S, Kobayashi N, Ueda K, Kawazu I. 2023. Parturition and Nursing
    Events in a Cephalic Birth of a False Killer Whale (Pseudorca crassidens) in Managed Care.
    Aquatic Mammals. 49(3): 217-222.
  • Kobayashi N, Kondo S, Tsujii K, Oki K, Hida M, Okabe H, Yoshikawa T, Ogawa R, Lee C, Higashi N, Okamoto R, Ozawa S, Uchida S, Mitani Y. 2022. Interchanges and movements of humpback whales in Japanese waters: Okinawa, Ogasawara, Amami, and Hokkaido, using an automated matching system. PLoS ONE 17(11): e0277761.
  • Yoshikawa T, Hida M, Lee C, Okabe H, Kobayashi N, Ozawa S, Saito H, Kan M, Date S, Shimojo S. 2022. Identification of over one thousand individual wild humpback whales using fluke photos.　 Proceedings of the 17th International Joint Conference on Computer Vision, Imaging and Computer Graphics Theory and Applications. 4: ISBN 978-989-758-555-5, ISSN 2184-4321, 957-967.
  • Sasai T, Kino M, Miyamoto K, Okabe H, Maeda Ko, Fukada S, Maeda Ke, Kobayashi N, Kobuchi T, Makabe M, Kawazu I. 2021. Evaluation of Marine Debris Ingestion in Sea Turtles around Okinawa Island, Japan. Marine Turtle Newsletter 163: 21-24.
  • Takahashi R, Kobayashi N, Higa S, Sakai M. The passage time of prey through the digestive tract of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus). 2021. Japanese Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine. 26(4):149-152.
  • Ikeshima S, Higa S, Mitani Y, Omata M, Kobayashi N, Ueda K, Kawazu I. 2021. First Observation of Pregnancy and Parturition in a Captive Pantropical Spotted Dolphin (Stenella attenuata). Mammal Study, 46(4): 1–6.
  • Kobayashi N, Okabe H, Higashi N, Miyahara H, Uchida S. 2021. Diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales in a winter breeding area in Okinawa (Ryukyuan) waters. Marine Mammal Science. 2021: 1-11.
  • Kobayashi N, Ozawa S, Hanahara N, Tokutake K, Kaneshi T, Inoue K, Okabe H, Miyamoto K, Ueda K. 2021. The first record of a Longman’s beaked whale (Indopacetus pacificus) newborn neonate found on Miyako Island, Okinawa, Japan. Marine Biodiversity Records. 14:4.
  • Kobayashi N, Tokutake K, Yoshida H, Okabe H, Miyamoto K, Ito H, Kawazu I, Ueda K. 2021. The First Stranding Record of Longman’s Beaked Whale (Indopacetus pacificus) in Okinawa, Japan. Aquatic Mammals. 47(2): 153-174.
  • Acebes J. M. V, Okabe H, Kobayashi N, Nakagun S, Sakamoto T, Hirney B, Higashi N, Uchida S. 2021. Interchange and movements of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) between western North Pacific winter breeding grounds in northern Luzon, Philippines and Okinawa, Japan. Journal of cetacean research and management. 22(1): 39-53.
  • Mitani Y, Kobayashi N, Okabe H. 2020. The North-South migration of humpback whales: Photo-identification match of an individual from the Pacific coast of eastern Hokkaido and breeding areas in Okinawa. Mammalian Science. 60(2): 170.
  • Hill M. C, Bradford A. L, Steele D, Baker C. S, Ligon A. D, Acebes J. M. V, Filatova O. A, Hakala S, Kobayashi N, Morimoto Y, Okabe H, Okamoto R, Rivers J, Sato T, Titova O. V, Uyeyama R. K, Oleson E. M. 2020. Found: a missing breeding ground for endangered western North Pacific humpback whales in the Mariana Archipelago. Endangered Species Research. 41: 91-103.
  • Okabe H, Kobayashi N, Higashi N, Tokutake K, Miyahara H, Uchida S. 2019. Strandings and bycatches of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) between 1996 and 2018 around Okinawa Island, Japan. Fauna Ryukyuana. 49: 13-22.
  • Oka S, Kobayashi N, Sato T, Ueda K, Yamagishi M. 2019. Sound production in the coconut crab, the largest terrestrial crustacean. Zoology. 137: 125710.
  • Kawazu I, Okabe H, Kobayashi N. 2019. A report of a logger-heard sea turtle attacked by a shark.108: 6-7.（in Japanese）.
  • Titova O. V, Filatova O. A, Fedutin I. D, Ovsyanikova E. N, Okabe H, Kobayashi N, Acebes J. M. V, Burdin A. M, Hoyt E. 2018. Photo-identification matches of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) from feeding areas in Russian Far East seas and breeding grounds in the North Pacific. Marine Mammal Science. 34: 100-112.
  • Kobayashi N, Okabe H, Kawazu I, Higashi N, Kato K, Miyahara H, Nakamura G, Kato H, Uchida S. 2017. Distribution and Local Movement of Humpback Whales in Okinawan Waters Depend on Sex and Reproductive Status. Zoological Science. 34: 58-63.
  • Kawazu I, Okabe H, Kobayashi N. 2017. Direct Observation of Mating Behavior Involving One Female and Two Male Loggerhead Turtles in the Wild. Current Herpetology 36 (1): 69-72.
  • Kobayashi N, Okabe H, Kawazu I, Higashi N, Miyahara H, Kato H, Uchida S. 2016. Peak Mating and Breeding Period of the Humpback Whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Okinawa Island, Japan. Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 6: 169–179.
  • Kobayashi N, Okabe H, Kawazu I, Higashi N, Miyahara H, Kato H, Uchida S. 2016. Spatial distribution and habitat use patterns of humpback whales in Okinawa, Japan. Mammal Study 41: 207–214.
  • Nakashima T, Kobayashi N, Yamada H, Katsumata T, Yoshida R, Kato H, Okabe H, Kawazu I, Yanase Y, Omine M, Terada M, Sugioka H, Kyo M. 2015. Repellence Effect of the New Sound for Underwater Speaker of Hydrofoil. TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation 9: 207–211.
  • Yamada H, Kobayashi N, Nakashima T, Kato H. 2015. Development of the Effective Underwater Speaker Sound Modulated by Audible Sound Frequency Range of Large Cetaceans for Avoidance with Ship Collision. TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation 9: 213–217.

Grants and Awards

  • 2023: Prize of ”Wiley, Top Cited Article 2021-2022” on a paper “Diel patterns in singing activity of humpback whales in a winter breeding area in Okinawan (Ryukyuan) waters” published on Marine Mammal Science
  • 2021: Prize of Award for Excellence (Innovation Category) at Okinawan area Conference of Land, Infrastructure and Transport in 2021 on “Stranded sperm whale at Naha Airport -The process of decomposition and disposal of a whale carcass-.”
  • 2019-2021: Grants-in-Aid for JSPS Scientific Research KAKENHI “Analysis on reproductive ecology on humpback whales in Okinawan waters during winter breeding season”.
  • 2017: Prize of Best Paper Award of Mammal study on “Spatial distribution and habitat use patterns of humpback whales in Okinawa, Japan.”
  • 2015: Prize of Best Poster Award of Mammal study on “Distribution trend of male humpback whale singers in Okinawan waters.”

Affiliated academic society

  • The Mammal Society of Japan
  • Japan Ethological Society

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