| North Atlantic right and bowhead whales were largely reduced in abundance by whaling. Sixteenth---seventeenth-century Basque whaling has been deemed responsible for the most detrimental population reduction of the right whale. However, molecular analyses identified the bowhead whale as the primary target of the hunt, with only one right whale among >200 whale bones. The specimen was profiled at 27 microsatellite loci used in the extant population and no new, or rare alleles were identified and the probability of identify value (4.8 x 10-24) was similar to those of extant individuals, suggesting historical genetic characteristics were not markedly different than today. A smaller historical population size and lower levels of diversity in the right whale might pre-date human exploitation. When 16th-century bowhead specimens were profiled (2 mitochondrial and 8 microsatellite loci), high levels of haplotype diversity (h = 0.917), nucleotide diversity (pi = 0.0149), heterozygosity (Hobs = 0.755), and allelic diversity (9.25) were identified and heterozygosity was significantly higher (5.3%; t = 2.248, p < 0.05) than today. A Pleistocene expansion event (Fs = -10.549; p < 0.001) was identified. Mitochondrial sequence analysis of 106 Holocene dated bowhead specimens from the central Canadian Arctic (CCA) identified no significant temporal changes in diversity. Little differentiation was found between CCA and Holocene dated specimens from Eastern Greenland/Spitsbergen (FST = 0.00335, p = 0.10068; ФST = -0.00417, p = 0.81427), suggesting a high degree of historical population connectivity.; Keywords: North Atlantic right whale, Eubalaena glacialis, bowhead whale, Balaena mysticetus, genetic diversity, Basque, whaling, ancient DNA, Holocene. |
