Massive genetic study of humpback whales to inform conservation assessments

Study confirms need to protect unique humpback whales in Arabian Sea

Date: January 9, 2017

Source: Wildlife Conservation Society

Scientists have published one of the largest genetic studies ever conducted on the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) for the purpose of clarifying management decisions in the Southern Hemisphere and supporting calls to protect unique and threatened populations, according to WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society), the American Museum of Natural History, Columbia University, and other organizations.

Using data generated from more than 3,000 skin samples from individual whales ranging from the South Atlantic to the Indian Oceans, the research team has uncovered previously unknown degrees of relatedness between different whale populations. The study will also help inform ongoing conservation reassessments of humpback whale populations, and reaffirms the highly distinct nature of a small, non-migratory population of humpback whales living in the Arabian Sea in need on continued protection.

The study titled "Multiple processes drive genetic structure of humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) populations across spatial scales" appears in the the journal Molecular Ecology.

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Wildlife miracle as villagers SAVE stranded blue whale

DESPERATE whale rescuers have pulled off a miracle by saving the largest creature that ever lived from perishing on a beach.

By STUART WINTER

PUBLISHED: 16:48, Thu, Feb 4, 2016 | UPDATED: 16:58, Thu, Feb 4, 2016

Over nine tense hours villagers fought to heave the 40 ft blue whale back into the seas as its life ebbed with the tide.

As the waves rippled over the young whale’s body, the men waded up to their chests to give the dying sea mammal a chance of survival with their herculean efforts.

Miraculously, when all looked lost, a rope was tied around the 25-ton whale and it was slowly hauled back to deeper water off India’s Arabian Sea coastline by two fishing trawlers.

Even then, there was more drama as the rope twice snapped before, at the third attempt, the whale was finally towed to safety.

The 25-ton whale was hauled back to deeper water off India’s Arabian Sea coastline

The rescue is believed to be the first time that a blue whale, the largest creature that has ever existed, has been saved after beaching.

Its plight is the latest in an incredible spate of whale strandings in both the North Sea and the Arabian Sea.

There seems to be nothing to connect the phenomena, but zoologists are becoming increasingly concerned over whether man-made impacts are driving the whales closer to dangerous shallow waters.

The blue whale rescue was carried out on Dapoli Beach in India’s Ratnagiri district, 250 miles south of Mumbai this week.

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Arabian sea humpback whales isolated for 70,000 years

Date:

December 3, 2014

Source:

Wildlife Conservation Society

Summary:

Scientists have made a fascinating discovery in the northern Indian Ocean: humpback whales inhabiting the Arabian Sea are the most genetically distinct humpback whales in the world and may be the most isolated whale population on earth. The results suggest they have remained separate from other humpback whale populations for perhaps 70,000 years, extremely unusual in a species famed for long distance migrations.

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Shift in Arabia sea plankton may threaten fisheries: Growing 'dead zone' could short-circuit food chain

A growing "dead zone" in the middle of the Arabian Sea has allowed plankton uniquely suited to low-oxygen water to take over the base of the food chain. Their rise to dominance over the last decade could be disastrous for the predator fish that sustain 120 million people living on the sea's edge.

Scientists at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and their colleagues are the first to document the rapid rise of green Noctiluca scintillans, an unusual dinoflagellate that eats other plankton and draws energy from the sun via microscopic algae living within its cells. Noctiluca's thick blooms color the Arabian Sea an emerald green each winter, from the shores of Oman on the west, to India and Pakistan on the east.

In a study published this week in Nature Communications, the researchers show how the millions of green algae living within Noctiluca's cells allow it to exploit an oxygen-starved dead zone the size of Texas. They hypothesize that a tide of nutrient-rich sewage flowing from booming cities on the Arabian Sea is expanding the dead zone and feeding Noctiluca's growth.

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