Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic
During the 16th and 17th centuries, Basque whalers travelled annually to the Strait of Belle Isle and Gulf of St. Lawrence to hunt whales. The hunting that occurred during this period is of primary significance for the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis (Müller, 1776), because it has be...
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic7 2024-10-13T14:03:37+00:00 Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic McLeod, B.A. Brown, M.W. Moore, M.J. Stevens, W. Barkham, S.H. Barkham, M. White, B.N. 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic7 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/7/7 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America ARCTIC volume 61, issue 1, page 61 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2009 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic7 2024-09-17T04:08:29Z During the 16th and 17th centuries, Basque whalers travelled annually to the Strait of Belle Isle and Gulf of St. Lawrence to hunt whales. The hunting that occurred during this period is of primary significance for the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis (Müller, 1776), because it has been interpreted as the largest human-induced reduction of the western North Atlantic population, with ~12250–21 000 whales killed. It has been frequently reported that the Basques targeted two species in this region: the North Atlantic right whale and the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus L., 1758. To evaluate this hypothesis and the relative impact of this period of whaling on both species, we collected samples from 364 whale bones during a comprehensive search of Basque whaling ports from the 16th to the 17th century in the Strait of Belle Isle and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bones were found and sampled at 10 of the 20 sites investigated. DNA was extracted from a subset (n = 218) of these samples. Analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b region identified five whale species. The identification of only a single right whale bone and 203 bowhead whale bones from at least 72 individuals indicates that the bowhead whale was likely the principal target of the hunt. These results imply that this whaling had a much greater impact (in terms of numbers of whales removed) on the bowhead whale population than on the western North Atlantic right whale population. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Strait of Belle Isle Arctic Institute of North America Belle Isle ENVELOPE(-55.357,-55.357,51.942,51.942) Strait of Belle Isle ENVELOPE(-57.115,-57.115,51.400,51.400) ARCTIC 61 1 61 |
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Arctic Institute of North America |
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language |
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description |
During the 16th and 17th centuries, Basque whalers travelled annually to the Strait of Belle Isle and Gulf of St. Lawrence to hunt whales. The hunting that occurred during this period is of primary significance for the North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis (Müller, 1776), because it has been interpreted as the largest human-induced reduction of the western North Atlantic population, with ~12250–21 000 whales killed. It has been frequently reported that the Basques targeted two species in this region: the North Atlantic right whale and the bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus L., 1758. To evaluate this hypothesis and the relative impact of this period of whaling on both species, we collected samples from 364 whale bones during a comprehensive search of Basque whaling ports from the 16th to the 17th century in the Strait of Belle Isle and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Bones were found and sampled at 10 of the 20 sites investigated. DNA was extracted from a subset (n = 218) of these samples. Analysis of the mitochondrial cytochrome b region identified five whale species. The identification of only a single right whale bone and 203 bowhead whale bones from at least 72 individuals indicates that the bowhead whale was likely the principal target of the hunt. These results imply that this whaling had a much greater impact (in terms of numbers of whales removed) on the bowhead whale population than on the western North Atlantic right whale population. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McLeod, B.A. Brown, M.W. Moore, M.J. Stevens, W. Barkham, S.H. Barkham, M. White, B.N. |
spellingShingle |
McLeod, B.A. Brown, M.W. Moore, M.J. Stevens, W. Barkham, S.H. Barkham, M. White, B.N. Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic |
author_facet |
McLeod, B.A. Brown, M.W. Moore, M.J. Stevens, W. Barkham, S.H. Barkham, M. White, B.N. |
author_sort |
McLeod, B.A. |
title |
Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic |
title_short |
Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic |
title_full |
Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic |
title_fullStr |
Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century Basque Whalers in the Western North Atlantic |
title_sort |
bowhead whales, and not right whales, were the primary target of 16th- to 17th-century basque whalers in the western north atlantic |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic7 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/7/7 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.357,-55.357,51.942,51.942) ENVELOPE(-57.115,-57.115,51.400,51.400) |
geographic |
Belle Isle Strait of Belle Isle |
geographic_facet |
Belle Isle Strait of Belle Isle |
genre |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Strait of Belle Isle |
genre_facet |
Arctic Balaena mysticetus bowhead whale Eubalaena glacialis North Atlantic North Atlantic right whale Strait of Belle Isle |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 61, issue 1, page 61 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic7 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
61 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
61 |
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1812808727063953408 |