Gene flow on ice: the role of sea ice and whaling in shaping Holarctic genetic diversity and population differentiation in bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus)

• Published in: Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Alter, S. Elisabeth, Rosenbaum, Howard C., Postma, Lianne D., Whitridge, Peter, Weber, Diana, Egan, Mary G., Lindsay, Melissa, Amato, George, Dueck, Larry, Brownell Jr., Robert L., Heide-Jørgensen, Mads-Peter, Laidre, Kristin L., Caccone, Gisella, Hancock, Brittany L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley Open Access 2012
• Subjects: Arctic; Hudson Bay; Okhotsk; Baffin Bay; Pacific; Hudson; Foxe Basin; Prince Regent Inlet; Baffin; Balaena mysticetus; Beaufort Sea; Chukchi; Davis Strait; Sea ice; Subarctic; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/2038/; https://research.library.mun.ca/2038/1/Gene_flow_on_ice_the_role_of_sea_ice_and_whaling_in_shaping_Holarctic_genetic_diversity_and_population_differentiation_in_bowhead_whales_Balaena_mysticetus_.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/2038/3/Gene_flow_on_ice_the_role_of_sea_ice_and_whaling_in_shaping_Holarctic_genetic_diversity_and_population_differentiation_in_bowhead_whales_Balaena_mysticetus_.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.397

Sea ice is believed to be a major factor shaping gene flow for polar marine organisms, but it remains unclear to what extent it represents a true barrier to dispersal for arctic cetaceans. Bowhead whales are highly adapted to polar sea ice and were targeted by commercial whalers throughout Arctic an...