The History of Whale Watching in Kochi
* September 18 - The reappearance of whales in the sea off Kochi. Kyusoku Iwamoto attends the Kochi Manga Festival '88, and participates in the Manga Forum held at the Kochi Kenmin Bunka Hall, where he made the suggestion that Kochi would be an ideal venue for whale watching.
* May 16 - Kyusoku Iwamoto gives a speech at the Muroto City Town Hall entitled "The Dream and Vision of Whale Watching". A former whaler attending the lecture shows his enthusiasm by commenting "If whale watching starts, I'll be able to see whales first hand again. Great!"
* May 25 - Whale watching commences in Kochi Prefecture.
Manga artist and nature lover Kyusoku Iwamoto and former whalers Tomohisa Nagaoka, Yoshinobu Chiyoka, Kastutoshi Yamada set sail from Sakihama Fishing Port on a boat named Suehiromaru in search of the migratory Sperm Whales which frequent the ocean off Cape Muroto.
* August 1 - Founding of the Ogata Leisure and Fishing Cooperative.
Whale watching activities begin in the west of Kochi Prefecture with the founding of the Ogata Leisure and Fishing Cooperative, under the guidance from the Ogata Department of Fisheries and Industry.
Note: This is the year that whale watching commenced in Kochi Prefecture. It is said that it was founded from a deep respect for the ocean among the people of Kochi Prefecture.
* February 17 - Founding of WHALCO(Kochi Whale Watching Network Council).
An organization for lovers of nature, in particular the ocean it's wild life. The aim of WHALCO is to "Respect and Enjoy the Ocean", while establishing a human network to make the most out of the new industry and culture arising from whale watching.
* March 1 - Kyusoku Iwamoto releases his book "Tosa no Kujira" (The Whales of Tosa)
The first book about whale watching by a Japanese Author. Along with bringing new meaning and respect for the whales of Tosa, it also serves as a guidebook for avid whale watchers and is branded 'The Whale Watchers Bible.'
* April 4 -Residents of the fishing community Mistu in Muroto City bid farewell to a local Gon-chan (Risso's Dolphin), which entered the port on February 22 and gave birth to a stillborn calf on March 28.
* May 15 to May 16 - WHALCO '90 commences.
The theme of WHALCO '90 is 'Considering the Relationships Between People, the Ocean and Whales.' Five specialist from Japan and the United States -- Roger Payne, Paul Winter, Hirokatsu Nagai, Yasuhiro Hamano and Kyusoku Iwamoto -- participate in whale watching in Muroto City and attend a discussion about whale watching in Kochi City.
(Photograph - far left: Roger Payne; far right: Paul Winter)
* January - Kochi whale watchers participate in a traditional whale watching tour in Maui, Hawaii.
* August 1 - Founding of The Saga Leisure and Fishing Cooperative. Whale watching activities commence in the Town of Saga.
* August 4 - WHALCO '91: 'Whale Watching in Muroto', is held with joint sponsorship from Kochi Industrial Design Corporation, and with their support, whale watching becomes and economical viability.
* August - Ogasawara Whale Watching Association chief Mr. Miyazaki visits Kochi Prefecture.
* September - Ogasawara Whale Watching Association secretary Mr. Shibutani visits Kochi Prefecture.
Note: Kochi Prefecture becomes well known as a whale watching area, yet visitors often remark about the lack of whale sightings.
* February 26 to March 7 - Kochi whale watchers visit Hawaii and New England on the east coast of the United states to research the use of local natural resources, in particular the ocean and whales.
* May 25 to May 30 - Luxury Ocean Liner "Oceanic Breath" conducts a whale watching cruise in Tosa Bay, departing from Kochi Port, heading west towards Ogata and the mouth of the Shimanto River. Sightings include the local Bryde's Whales.
* September 19 and 20 - WHALCO '92: 'Whale Watching in Ogata', opens. Extremely close proximity sightings of Bryde's Whales are reported. The management of whale watching in the area appears to be going well. Bryde's Whales are seen swimming on their side, displaying their pink underbellies, sounding beneath the whale watching vessels and displaying various other friendly behaviour which heightens peoples appreciation and respect for the whales.
Note: This year many new discoveries were made about Bryde's Whales. We realized that they are coastal, shallow water dwelling whales which are non-migratory, and often fish using bubble nets. We also discovered that the local Bryde's Whales don't breed throughout the year and that they have a pink underbelly.
* January 1 - Eric White visits Muroto City, Ogata Town and Saga Town in Kochi Prefecture to conduct an investigation into whale watching in Kochi Prefecture.
* May 3 - Shaun Wait from the WDCS visits Ogata Town in Kochi Prefecture.
* May 15 - Kazuo Nakanishi witnesses Bryde's Whales lifting their flukes out of the water, an action which is considered very unusual for this type of whale.(Whalco Vol.10)
* May 23 - Experienced whale watcher Richard Oliver from Kiakoa in New Zealand visits Muroto City and Ogata Town in Kochi Prefecture.
* July 16 to July 19 - WHALCO '93: 'Whale Watching in Muroto', opens.
The inaugural World Whale Watching Symposium is held and avid whale watchers and whale watching experts from Kochi Prefecture and around the world discuss the pros and cons of whale watching. Rosso's Dolphins, False Killer Whales and Flying Fish were among the wild life sighted during WHALCO '93, but unfortunately, the local Sperm Whales were not.
Note: We were given a warning that the number of whale watching vessels and the speeds they were traveling at were inappropriately high.
* April - Founding of the Shimonokae Leisure and Fishing Cooperative. Whale watching activities commence in Ashizuri.
* September 6 and September 7 - The International Whale Watching Symposium is held in Kochi Prefecture with Ogata and Saga as the main venues. Whale watching experts from around the world and local fisherman attend and a substantial discussion about whale watching was achieved . WHALCO'94 is announced as an international event.
* September - Eric White (England) proposes the "Whale Bus" initiative. (Whalco Vol.16)
Note: Due to the Great Hanshin Earthquake, tourist numbers visiting Kochi Prefecture we down this year. In spite of this, the Ogata Leisure and Fishing Cooperative had record number of 18,494 customers from March to October, 1994.
* February - The Tosa Bay Whale Watching Corporation starts a scheme to individually identify the Bryde's Whales of Tosa Bay. Using photographs of Bryde's Whales, 14 separate individual are identified by the shape of their dorsal fins and other identifying marks. The project to identify individual whales is still under way, and studies of whole pods is now being considered. Nicknames are often given to well known animals.
* April - Whale watching activities commence from Usa Fishing Port.
* June 12 - The results of the scheme to individually identify the Bryde's Whales of Tosa Bay are announced publicly at the Irino Watching Centre in Ogata Town.
* August 13 - WHALCO '95: 'A Guide to Whale Watching in Ogata', is released. This guide focuses not only on coming to Kochi Prefecture to spot whales, but also to enjoy the other attractions that Kochi has to offer.
Note: The introduction of the individual identification scheme makes whale watching in Kochi Prefecture a much more educational experience.
* April - Whale watching activities commence from Koutsu Fishing Port.
* May - Hydrophones are put to use on the whale watching vessel Suehiromaru II in the ocean off Muroto. Whale watching in the area becomes more of an educational experience with the opportunity to not only see the local Sperm and Pilots Whales and dolphins, but to also listen to their unique songs and clicks.
Muroto and Ogata become bases for the first Ocean Ecotours in Kochi Prefecture. Measures to combat the harassment of whales through whale watching are put into practice. Ocean Ecotours continue striving to achieve a balance between people and the ecology that the whales live in, using whale watching as a major tool.
Come on! Whalefreaks.(Newsgroup)
last update:july 1, 1996/(C)Kochi Pref.