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Population genetic structure among feeding aggregations of humpback whales in the Southern Ocean

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Abstract

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) undertake seasonal migrations between low-latitude breeding grounds in winter and high-latitude feeding grounds in summer. In the Southern Hemisphere, seven primary breeding stocks have been identified based on tropical distribution between which there is limited gene flow. In the summer, these stocks are distributed among six Management Areas (Areas I–VI) defined by the International Whaling Commission in the Southern Ocean feeding grounds. The extent to which different breeding stocks mix on these feeding grounds, and the genetic structure and relationships between them, remains unclear. This uncertainty has led to the review and development of hypotheses to refine stock boundaries in the Antarctic. This study is the first to analyse the circumpolar genetic structure of humpback whales in their feeding aggregations. Sequences of the mitochondrial control region and microsatellite DNA variation were obtained for 399 humpback whale samples, obtained within the six Antarctic Management Areas. Results from both sets of markers were consistent in showing a complex pattern of differentiation between feeding aggregations across the feeding range. Management Area I surrounding the Antarctic Peninsula, associated with Breeding Stock G in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean, was highly differentiated from all other feeding aggregations, suggesting strong fidelity towards the Peninsula. In contrast, adjacent feeding grounds showed much lower levels or no significant differentiation, suggesting interchange of individuals and overlap of breeding stocks on their summer feeding grounds. These results have important implications from the perspective of conservation and management, as failure to recognize overlapping distributions may result in misleading estimates of abundance and growth trends of particular recovering humpback whale populations.

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Acknowledgments

The IWC Secretariat kindly made available humpback whale biopsy samples (from the IDCR and SOWER cruises). Similarly, the Southwest Fisheries Science Center, USA, made available samples from the Southern Ocean GLOBEC cruises and also the Chilean Antarctic Institute (INAC) provided access to samples from the Chilean cruises. We thank K.P. Findlay and P.B. Best for helping to develop the original request to access the IDCR SOWER samples. We also thank INACH for providing funding and support in the AP surveys. We thank A. Larrea, L. Medrano, E. Pérez and P. Acuña for field assistance. We thank M. Leslie, C. Pomilla, J. Murrell, D. Steel, A. Hickey and S. Lavery for assistance in the laboratory. We also thank F. Kershaw for the map presented in Fig. 1. Laboratory analysis was supported by a Marsden Fund grant to C.S. Baker for INAC and GLOBEC samples; all other laboratory analyses were supported by grants to HCR. C. Olavarría was supported by a University of Auckland International Doctoral Scholarship and a scholarship from Fundación CEQUA. A.R. Amaral is supported by a Grant (SFRH/BPD/79002/2011) from the Portuguese Science Foundation.

Author information

Author notes

  1. C. Olavarria

    Present address: , P.O. Box 422, Nelson, 7040, New Zealand

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, 79th Street and Central Park West, New York, NY, 10024, USA

    A. R. Amaral, J. Loo, H. Jaris & H. C. Rosenbaum

  2. Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Faculdade de Ciências Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    A. R. Amaral

  3. Fundacion CEQUA, Punta Arenas, Chile

    C. Olavarria

  4. School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    C. Olavarria

  5. Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Linnaeus Way, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    D. Thiele

  6. 33 Governors Bay-Teddington Road, Governors Bay, RD1, Lyttelton, 8971, New Zealand

    P. Ensor

  7. Instituto Antártico Chileno, Plaza Muñoz Gamero 1055, Punta Arenas, Chile

    A. Aguayo

  8. Wildlife Conservation Society, Ocean Giants Program, Global Conservation, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY, 10460, USA

    H. C. Rosenbaum

Authors
  1. A. R. Amaral
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  2. J. Loo
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  3. H. Jaris
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  4. C. Olavarria
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  5. D. Thiele
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  6. P. Ensor
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  7. A. Aguayo
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  8. H. C. Rosenbaum
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to H. C. Rosenbaum.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: O. Puebla.

A. R. Amaral and J. Loo have contributed equally to this work.

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Amaral, A.R., Loo, J., Jaris, H. et al. Population genetic structure among feeding aggregations of humpback whales in the Southern Ocean. Mar Biol 163, 132 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-2904-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-016-2904-0

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