Whales will cross oceans to mate: study
Source: Agencies |
October 15, 2009, Thursday
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A 15-YEAR genetic study of Southern Hemisphere humpback whales has opened a window into the little known mating habits of the giant cetaceans, revealing some whales travel between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans to mate.
Analyzing DNA skin samples from 1,527 whales in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, an international group of scientists mapped how different whale populations interact, their mating habits and distribution across oceans.
"Many of the interactions among Southern Hemisphere populations are still poorly understood," said Howard Rosenbaum, director of the United States-based Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants Program and lead author of the study.
"This research illustrates the vast potential of genetic analyses to uncover the mysteries of how humpbacks travel and form populations in the Southern Ocean basins," Rosenbaum said in a statement yesterday announcing the study, published on PLoS ONE, an online scientific journal.
So little was known about Southern Ocean humpback whales that the researchers used whaling records dating back to 1761 for initial insights. The whaling logbooks tried to determine whale population boundaries and breeding stock, but studying humpbacks in the wild, even in modern times, is difficult.
Analyzing DNA skin samples from 1,527 whales in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, an international group of scientists mapped how different whale populations interact, their mating habits and distribution across oceans.
"Many of the interactions among Southern Hemisphere populations are still poorly understood," said Howard Rosenbaum, director of the United States-based Wildlife Conservation Society's Ocean Giants Program and lead author of the study.
"This research illustrates the vast potential of genetic analyses to uncover the mysteries of how humpbacks travel and form populations in the Southern Ocean basins," Rosenbaum said in a statement yesterday announcing the study, published on PLoS ONE, an online scientific journal.
So little was known about Southern Ocean humpback whales that the researchers used whaling records dating back to 1761 for initial insights. The whaling logbooks tried to determine whale population boundaries and breeding stock, but studying humpbacks in the wild, even in modern times, is difficult.
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