title: Genetic variation in blue whales in the eastern pacific: implication for taxonomy and use of common wintering grounds.
abstract: Many aspects of blue whale biology are poorly understood. Some of the gaps in our knowledge, such as those regarding their basic taxonomy and seasonal movements, directly affect our ability to monitor and manage blue whale populations. As a step towards filling in some of these gaps, microsatellite and mtDNA sequence analyses were conducted on blue whale samples from the Southern Hemisphere, the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP) and the northeast Pacific. The results indicate that the ETP is differentially used by blue whales from the northern and southern eastern Pacific, with the former showing stronger affinity to the region off Central America known as the Costa Rican Dome, and the latter favouring the waters of Peru and Ecuador. Although the pattern of genetic variation throughout the Southern Hemisphere is compatible with the recently proposed subspecies status of Chilean blue whales, some discrepancies remain between catch lengths and lengths from aerial photography, and not all blue whales in Chilean waters can be assumed to be of this type. Also, the range of the proposed Chilean subspecies, which extends to the Galapagos region of the ETP, at least seasonally, perhaps should include the Costa Rican Dome and the eastern North Pacific as well.
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Leduc
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: F I
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Archer
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: K K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Martien
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hancock-Hanser
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Rod. Washington Luis, km 235, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.|Centro Ballena Azul/Blue Whale Center, Valdivia, Chile.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Torres-Florez
authors.affiliation: Centro Ballena Azul/Blue Whale Center, Valdivia, Chile.|Instituto de Ciencias Marinas y Limnológicas, Universidad Austral de Chile, Casilla 567, Valdivia, Chile.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hucke-Gaete
authors.affiliation: Ocean Giants Program, Wildlife Conservation Society - Global Conservation, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY, 10460, USA.|Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: H C
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
authors.affiliation: Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research, Lima 20, Peru.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: van Waerebeek
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Brownell
authors.affiliation: Marine Mammal and Turtle Division, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D050616:Balaenoptera / Q000235:genetics*; D002489:Central America; D002677:Chile; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D004484:Ecuador; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010140:Pacific Ocean; D010568:Peru
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: 
  Balaenoptera musculus
  ; conservation genetics; eastern Pacific; endangered species