Preliminary report of the Japanese RV Kaiyo Maru survey in
the Ross Sea and adjacent waters, Antarctica, in 2004/05

A survey of the Japanese R/V Kaiyo Maru was carried out to collect data simultaneously on ecological interaction of environment – Antarctic krill – whales in the Ross Sea and adjacent waters during December 2004 and February 2005. Transect lines along 165E, 175E, 180, 175W, 170W and 165W were investigated to cover hot spots which suggest high concentrated krill and whales such as the Scott Seamounts Island, the Balleny Islands, the shelf off the Victoria Land and the almost whole of the Ross Sea. The 175E and 170W lines, especially, were surveyed in detail from the surface to near the sea bottom from 60S to the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf on physical, chemical and biological parameters.