Population changes in a whale breeding ground revealed by citizen science noninvasive genetics unique microsatellite profiles of southern right whales ...

• Main Authors: Neveceralova, Petra, Carroll, Emma, Steel, Debbie, Vermeulen, Els, Elwen, Simon, Hulva, Pavel
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2022
• Subjects: cetacean; Citizen science; noninvasive genetics; sloughed skin; Southern Africa; southern right whale; FOS Biological sciences; Austral; Walker Bay; Southern Right Whale
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pvmcvdnnb; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.pvmcvdnnb

Historical exploitation, and a combination of current anthropogenic impacts, such as climate change and habitat degradation, impact the population dynamics of marine mammalian megafauna. Right whales (Eubalaena spp.) are large cetaceans recovering from hunting, whose reproductive and population growth rate appear to be impacted by climate change. We apply noninvasive genetic methods to monitor southern right whale (E. australis, SRW) and test the application of noninvasive genetics to minimise the observer effects on the population. Our aim is to describe population structure, and interdecadal and interannual changes to assess species status in the Great Acceleration period of Anthropocene. As a basis for population genetic analyses, we collected samples from sloughed skin during post-migration epidermal moult. Considering the exploration-exploitation dilemma, we collaborated with whale-watching companies, as part of a citizen science approach and to reduce ad hoc logistic operations and biopsy equipment. We ... : The majority of samples used in this study were obtained noninvasively by collecting sloughed skin from whale watching boats conducting commercial trips during the austral winters of 2016 – 2018 in the area of Gansbaai and Walker Bay, South Africa. Pieces of skin were spotted in the water, picked up by a dip net and transferred with sterile tweezers to a tube containing 96% ethanol. Additional samples were collected from a research boat by remote biopsy using a crossbow and Cetadart darts (Lambertsen, 1987). All samples were stored at − 18 °C. Another 32 biopsy samples were available in archive held by University of Pretoria Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit. These samples were collected in two different regions, South Africa and Namibia, between 2003 and 2013. Tissue was pulverised in liquid nitrogen and DNA was extracted using either the QIAGEN DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit or the GENEAID Genomic DNA Mini Kit. Seventeen microsatellite loci were grouped into multiplexes and amplified in 10 μl PCR ...