Genetic variation among populations of bowhead whales summering in Canadian waters / Lianne D. Maiers … [et al.]. : Fs70-1/1999-134E-PDF

Renewed aboriginal subsistence harvests of bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) in the eastern Canadian Arctic has prompted a need to more closely monitor the status of these animals. Information from the study of genetic markers can help answer questions about stock structure, distribution and movement, breeding strategies and population size dynamics. Bowhead samples from 64 individuals representing 3 putative stocks were analyzed for variability at 13 DNA microsatellite loci and among 343 base pairs (bp) of mitochondrial DNA sequence. Analyses of the data support the idea that the Davis Strait stock is distinct from the Hudson Bay/Foxe Basin and Bering Sea stocks. Results also suggest that the Hudson Bay stock is more similar to the Bering Sea stock than it is to the Davis Strait stock. This pattern could result from post-glacial colonization of the eastern Arctic by two separate and genetically distinct groups of bowheads.

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