New funding will help Saint Mary's researchers update database of right whale DNA
Database contains full genetic profiles of around 700 right whales, both past and present
Researchers at Saint Mary's University in Halifax have acquired funding that will help them update a DNA database for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
Researchers have used DNA samples to track North Atlantic right whale populations since the late 1980s. Those samples have been collected into a database, which is used to identify individual right whales without relying on sight alone.
This is especially useful for scientists who want to know family trees or identify blubber drifting around the ocean or washed ashore.
The DNA database contains the full genetic profiles of around 700 right whales, both past and present. But with a contract from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the researchers in Halifax hope to reanalyze the samples using newer methods.
Timothy Frasier, principal investigator of the right whale genetic work, said the current database analyzes each individual whale's genome at 36 different regions along the DNA strand. However, the funding will allow them to analyze 300 regions.
"It's a big jump," said Frasier, a biology professor. "Not only is that going to give us a higher resolution [of the genome], but the technology is going to make that much more efficient and less error-prone."
The contract begins in March and can be extended each year until 2028. The total annual payment is up to $33,960.
Database tracks family ties, inbreeding
Sean Brillant, a senior conservation biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Federation, said the database helps researchers learn about how many reproductive females have calves and the frequency of their births.
Modernizing this database might lead to more accurate, faster results, said Brillant.
"When we see a calf, who the mother and father are is very helpful in understanding what the intervals are for the animals giving birth," he said, noting that a female right whale ideally waits three years between each calf.
But this is not usually the case, as he said "delays or increases in that interval are indications that the population is under stress."
Brillant said that tracking the DNA of the species allows scientists to measure genetic diversity. While the species has a high level of inbreeding due to its small population, he said there is work that suggests it does not have an impact on their genetic diversity.
"What we're resulting in is a population of animals that has pretty good genetic diversity, which means they have the ability to crawl out of this limited genetic pool that they might be in," he said.
Collaboration with photo catalogue
Philip Hamilton, senior scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, said the DNA database is a tool that works in conjunction with a photo catalogue of almost all right whales alive today — containing over two million photographs.
Most right whales can be visually identified by comparing the whale's pattern of callosities — large patches of skin on their heads — which is why taking photos of them is the easiest way to identify whales.
However, Hamilton said callosities do not appear until later in a whale's life, so the DNA database is a great way of identifying calves.
Hamilton said this funding is exciting for his field of studies as it can open "new avenues of research."
"I'm looking forward to once they've done that. We have some mystery cases of dead whales that we're going to go back together and figure out, 'Oh, this is in fact this whale,'" he said.
It is believed there are fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales remaining in the world.
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