Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods
To maintain a sustainable harvest of marine mammals, knowledge on key life history parameters such as age is essential. In West Greenland, humpback whale numbers were low during the 1980s due to past commercial whaling. However, the moratorium, which was enforced in 1986, had a positive effect on th...
Published in: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2020
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00811 https://doaj.org/article/70d4fa31a904441b980ff52ef4e00df3 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:70d4fa31a904441b980ff52ef4e00df3 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:70d4fa31a904441b980ff52ef4e00df3 2023-05-15T16:24:52+02:00 Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods Tenna K. Boye Eva Garde Julius Nielsen Rasmus Hedeholm Jesper Olsen Malene Simon 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00811 https://doaj.org/article/70d4fa31a904441b980ff52ef4e00df3 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00811/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00811 https://doaj.org/article/70d4fa31a904441b980ff52ef4e00df3 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 6 (2020) humpback whales West Greenland age radiocarbon dating aspartic acid racemization post whaling Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00811 2022-12-31T13:56:24Z To maintain a sustainable harvest of marine mammals, knowledge on key life history parameters such as age is essential. In West Greenland, humpback whale numbers were low during the 1980s due to past commercial whaling. However, the moratorium, which was enforced in 1986, had a positive effect on their abundance and by 2010 it was possible for Greenland to reopen the subsistence hunt on humpback whales in West Greenland. In this study, eyes were collected from 12 humpback whales taken in the subsistence hunt from 2010 to 2015 and used for age and growth estimation. Aspartic acid racemization (AAR) and bomb radiocarbon dating techniques were performed on the eye lens nuclei to obtain independent age estimates. Through AAR, 11 individuals were estimated to be younger than 20 years old and a single individual estimated to be 46 years old. Radiocarbon dating supported these estimates as all individuals had post-bomb pMC values. The Gompertz growth curve showed that humpback whales reach their asymptotic lengths around age ten and hence at a relatively young age. In conclusion, half a century after commercial whaling ended, the humpback whales feeding off West Greenland appear to consist mainly of young individuals. An age distribution that is likely attributed to a historical overexploitation and since a rapid increase in abundance following the moratorium. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland Humpback Whale Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Frontiers in Marine Science 6 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
humpback whales West Greenland age radiocarbon dating aspartic acid racemization post whaling Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
humpback whales West Greenland age radiocarbon dating aspartic acid racemization post whaling Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Tenna K. Boye Eva Garde Julius Nielsen Rasmus Hedeholm Jesper Olsen Malene Simon Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods |
topic_facet |
humpback whales West Greenland age radiocarbon dating aspartic acid racemization post whaling Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
To maintain a sustainable harvest of marine mammals, knowledge on key life history parameters such as age is essential. In West Greenland, humpback whale numbers were low during the 1980s due to past commercial whaling. However, the moratorium, which was enforced in 1986, had a positive effect on their abundance and by 2010 it was possible for Greenland to reopen the subsistence hunt on humpback whales in West Greenland. In this study, eyes were collected from 12 humpback whales taken in the subsistence hunt from 2010 to 2015 and used for age and growth estimation. Aspartic acid racemization (AAR) and bomb radiocarbon dating techniques were performed on the eye lens nuclei to obtain independent age estimates. Through AAR, 11 individuals were estimated to be younger than 20 years old and a single individual estimated to be 46 years old. Radiocarbon dating supported these estimates as all individuals had post-bomb pMC values. The Gompertz growth curve showed that humpback whales reach their asymptotic lengths around age ten and hence at a relatively young age. In conclusion, half a century after commercial whaling ended, the humpback whales feeding off West Greenland appear to consist mainly of young individuals. An age distribution that is likely attributed to a historical overexploitation and since a rapid increase in abundance following the moratorium. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Tenna K. Boye Eva Garde Julius Nielsen Rasmus Hedeholm Jesper Olsen Malene Simon |
author_facet |
Tenna K. Boye Eva Garde Julius Nielsen Rasmus Hedeholm Jesper Olsen Malene Simon |
author_sort |
Tenna K. Boye |
title |
Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods |
title_short |
Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods |
title_full |
Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods |
title_fullStr |
Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods |
title_full_unstemmed |
Estimating the Age of West Greenland Humpback Whales Through Aspartic Acid Racemization and Eye Lens Bomb Radiocarbon Methods |
title_sort |
estimating the age of west greenland humpback whales through aspartic acid racemization and eye lens bomb radiocarbon methods |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00811 https://doaj.org/article/70d4fa31a904441b980ff52ef4e00df3 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
Greenland Humpback Whale |
genre_facet |
Greenland Humpback Whale |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 6 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2019.00811/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00811 https://doaj.org/article/70d4fa31a904441b980ff52ef4e00df3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00811 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
6 |
_version_ |
1766013451200626688 |