Investigating population heterogeneity in the right whale (Eubalaena australis) population off the South American Atlantic coasts by means of stable isotope análisis

VIGHI MORGANA; BORREL ASUNCIÓN; CRESPO ENRIQUE ALBERTO; OLIVEIRA LARISSA ROSA DE; SIMÕES LOPES PAULO C.; CARVALLHO FLORES P.A; GARCÍA NÉSTOR ANÍBAL; AGUILAR, ALEX

SETUBAL

Congreso; 27th. Annual Conference Of The European Cetacean Society; 2013

European Cetacean Society

Along the Atlantic coasts of South America, right whales were subject to intense exploitation from the late 18th century to the early 1970s. Despite recorded catches by whalers originally formed a continuum from southern Brazil to Tierra del Fuego, the recovery of the population has apparently occurred in a fragmented manner, with two main areas of concentration, one off Southern Brazil and another off Peninsula Valdés (Argentina). This pattern suggests some level of heterogeneity in the population, which is apparently contradicted by recorded movements of individuals throughout the whole geographical range occupied by the species in the southern Atlantic. To test the hypothesis of the potential occurrence of discrete subpopulations exploiting specific habitats, we investigated isotopic profiles (N, C and O) in 125 bone samples obtained from archaeological sites and from modern strandings occurring both in southern Brazil (n=72) and Peninsula Valdes (n=53).