One of the biggest questions about harbor porpoises is if the stocks we currently manage are truly one large population, or if there are smaller distinct units within a geographic area. DNA can help answer this question, but getting samples from harbor porpoises using traditional routes (i.e. biopsy darting), is very difficult. That's where eDNA comes in! Scoop some seawater from where an animal just dove, and you can snag some skin cells and extract the DNA. Using eDNA along with previously published data and tissue samples from stranded animals, this paper reveals the community/population structure of harbor porpoises in Alaska, with some intriguing results! Listen to learn more!
Paper is open access and available here:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mec.17563
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