The North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) is the most endangered
species of large whale in the world (IUCN). Efforts for the recovery of this species were
initiated almost 20 years ago, yet the North Atlantic right whale shows little signs of
recovery. Reliance on particular habitat areas and the effect of factors such as ship
collisions, net entanglement and habitat disturbances are hampering the recovery of this
species. Therefore, it is important to assess the level of genetic diversity left in this
population and to identify and assess all habitat areas for potentially lethal threats. This
study has identified a subset of the reproductive females that do not use the Bay of Fundy
as a nursery area, through the genetic structuring of mtDNA control region haplotypes.
Genetic structuring of the control region haplotypes was established and maintained by
site fidelity of reproductive females to specific nursery areas. These results have
identified a list of reproductive females that will be the targets of satellite tagging to
elucidate the location of the alternative nursery area(s) to the Bay of Fundy. Analysis of
mtDNA control region haplotypes in North and South Atlantic right whale has identified
five haplotypes in the 180 North Atlantic right whales analyzed compared to 10
haplotypes in the 16 South Atlantic right whales analyzed. The low level ofhaplotypic
variability in the North Atlantic right whale is a direct consequence of the extensive
whaling period endured by this species. The genetic divergence between the North and
South Atlantic right whales was estimated to have occurred 3.0-9.0 mya. This is similar
to the genetic divergence of 2.0-5.3 mya found between the two clades identified in the
South Atlantic samples. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/22568 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Malik, Sobia |
| Contributors | White, Bradley N., Biology |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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