Commercial whaling, present challenges and future threats shape genetics and the potential for adaptation in the bowhead whales and narwhals of the Canadian Arctic.
Bowhead whales are the longest-lived mammals on Earth with some able to live hundreds of years. What’s more, Inuit hunters have observed these whales breaking ice over half a metre thick – ice strong enough to support a fully-loaded semi truck.
As these species recover from the effects of commercial whaling, they now face a new challenge: climate change. The Arctic is warming almost four times faster than the global average, causing profound changes to the region’s ecosystem. Species that have adapted to life in these extreme conditions, such as polar bears, Arctic seabirds and Arctic fish, must all now adjust to climate change or perish.
Has commercial whaling affected genetic variation in Arctic whales? That was the question we set out to answer for both bowhead whales and narwhals. Our goal was to understand how the historic exploitation of these two species may influence their ability to respond to climate change in the future. These patterns are consistent with historical records showing that commercial whalers primarily targeted bowhead whales. Surprisingly, narwhals in our study had much less genetic variation than bowhead whales. We thought bowhead whales, having endured more intensive exploitation, would have lower genetic diversity in the present day than narwhals, if both species began with similar levels of variation.Approximately 2.
Climate Change Conservation Global Warming Inuit Peoples Narwhal Narwhals Whales
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