Saving habitat to save species

Posted by Dawn M. Smith Jan 24, 2007

Designating the North Pacific right whale (Eubalaena japonica) as a distinct species was a triumph for modern genetic science. Two separate (mitochondrial and nuclear) DNA tests confirmed what scientists suspected. The animals of the North Pacific did not share enough genetic material with the North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) to be the same species. In some ways this is just a technicality. Data gleaned from any studies of right whales is bound to help in making decisions regarding their protection.

But there are differences. The North Pacific right whales spend most of their time in the Bering Sea, Sea of Okhotsk, and Sea of Japan. They are less often seen and much less studied than their North Atlantic and Southern (Eubalaena australis) relatives. Abundance and population trends, calving and feeding grounds (critical habitat), migration routes, etc. are not completely understood. Their needs and threats are not known. For example, we know that human interaction (ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement) are key issues for the North Atlantic species but this doesn’t appear to be the case for the North Pacific whales. Has this species simply been hunted beyond its ability to recover? At this late stage, with the species facing likely extinction, we may never know.

More importantly, if one of the world’s great whales, a charismatic mega-vertebrate, is that poorly understood, what of the many less ‘sexy’ species which are as important, if not more so? Perhaps by protecting habitat, in this case the North Pacific Ocean, the species we know, at least a little, can be protected along with the species we have yet to know. With new species being discovered every day, it’s worth a try.

Sources:

Alaska Marine Mammal Stock Assessments, 2005, North Pacific Right Whale www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/ak2005whnr-pen.pdf