The world's smallest whale population?

The North Pacific right whale ( Eubalaena japonica ) was heavily exploited by both nineteenth century whaling and recent (1960s) illegal Soviet catches. Today, the species remains extremely rare especially in the eastern North Pacific. Here, we use photographic and genotype data to calculate the fir...

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Published in:Biology Letters
Main Authors: Wade, Paul R., Kennedy, Amy, LeDuc, Rick, Barlow, Jay, Carretta, Jim, Shelden, Kim, Perryman, Wayne, Pitman, Robert, Robertson, Kelly, Rone, Brenda, Salinas, Juan Carlos, Zerbini, Alexandre, Brownell, Robert L., Clapham, Phillip J.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: The Royal Society 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477
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spelling crroyalsociety:10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477 2024-09-15T17:59:27+00:00 The world's smallest whale population? Wade, Paul R. Kennedy, Amy LeDuc, Rick Barlow, Jay Carretta, Jim Shelden, Kim Perryman, Wayne Pitman, Robert Robertson, Kelly Rone, Brenda Salinas, Juan Carlos Zerbini, Alexandre Brownell, Robert L. Clapham, Phillip J. 2010 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Biology Letters volume 7, issue 1, page 83-85 ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X journal-article 2010 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477 2024-08-19T04:24:57Z The North Pacific right whale ( Eubalaena japonica ) was heavily exploited by both nineteenth century whaling and recent (1960s) illegal Soviet catches. Today, the species remains extremely rare especially in the eastern North Pacific. Here, we use photographic and genotype data to calculate the first mark–recapture estimates of abundance for right whales in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. The estimates were very similar: photographic = 31 (95% CL 23–54), genotyping = 28 (95% CL 24–42). We also estimated the population contains eight females (95% CL 7–18) and 20 males (95% CL 17–37). Although these estimates may relate to a Bering Sea subpopulation, other data suggest that the total eastern North Pacific population is unlikely to be much larger. Its precarious status today—the world's smallest whale population for which an abundance estimate exists—is a direct consequence of uncontrolled and illegal whaling, and highlights the past failure of international management to prevent such abuses. Article in Journal/Newspaper Bering Sea Eubalaena japonica North Pacific right whale Aleutian Islands The Royal Society Biology Letters 7 1 83 85
institution Open Polar
collection The Royal Society
op_collection_id crroyalsociety
language English
description The North Pacific right whale ( Eubalaena japonica ) was heavily exploited by both nineteenth century whaling and recent (1960s) illegal Soviet catches. Today, the species remains extremely rare especially in the eastern North Pacific. Here, we use photographic and genotype data to calculate the first mark–recapture estimates of abundance for right whales in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. The estimates were very similar: photographic = 31 (95% CL 23–54), genotyping = 28 (95% CL 24–42). We also estimated the population contains eight females (95% CL 7–18) and 20 males (95% CL 17–37). Although these estimates may relate to a Bering Sea subpopulation, other data suggest that the total eastern North Pacific population is unlikely to be much larger. Its precarious status today—the world's smallest whale population for which an abundance estimate exists—is a direct consequence of uncontrolled and illegal whaling, and highlights the past failure of international management to prevent such abuses.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Wade, Paul R.
Kennedy, Amy
LeDuc, Rick
Barlow, Jay
Carretta, Jim
Shelden, Kim
Perryman, Wayne
Pitman, Robert
Robertson, Kelly
Rone, Brenda
Salinas, Juan Carlos
Zerbini, Alexandre
Brownell, Robert L.
Clapham, Phillip J.
spellingShingle Wade, Paul R.
Kennedy, Amy
LeDuc, Rick
Barlow, Jay
Carretta, Jim
Shelden, Kim
Perryman, Wayne
Pitman, Robert
Robertson, Kelly
Rone, Brenda
Salinas, Juan Carlos
Zerbini, Alexandre
Brownell, Robert L.
Clapham, Phillip J.
The world's smallest whale population?
author_facet Wade, Paul R.
Kennedy, Amy
LeDuc, Rick
Barlow, Jay
Carretta, Jim
Shelden, Kim
Perryman, Wayne
Pitman, Robert
Robertson, Kelly
Rone, Brenda
Salinas, Juan Carlos
Zerbini, Alexandre
Brownell, Robert L.
Clapham, Phillip J.
author_sort Wade, Paul R.
title The world's smallest whale population?
title_short The world's smallest whale population?
title_full The world's smallest whale population?
title_fullStr The world's smallest whale population?
title_full_unstemmed The world's smallest whale population?
title_sort world's smallest whale population?
publisher The Royal Society
publishDate 2010
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477
genre Bering Sea
Eubalaena japonica
North Pacific right whale
Aleutian Islands
genre_facet Bering Sea
Eubalaena japonica
North Pacific right whale
Aleutian Islands
op_source Biology Letters
volume 7, issue 1, page 83-85
ISSN 1744-9561 1744-957X
op_rights https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0477
container_title Biology Letters
container_volume 7
container_issue 1
container_start_page 83
op_container_end_page 85
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