A group of researchers from the universities of Oviedo and La Laguna have effectively tested the observation of pilot whale populations through non-invasive methods, which involve collecting the breath or exhaled air of these cetaceans in their natural habitat to extract their DNA.
The journal ‘Conservation’ has recently highlighted this research, which has been authored by Patricia Arranz from the University of La Laguna, alongside Ruth Coya, Elena Turac, and Laura Millares from the University of Oviedo.
This investigation focuses on the population of Tropical Calderón (Globicephala machrorhynchus), a medium-sized odontocete cetacean that resides in the Canary Islands and faces conservation challenges as a result of marine tourism, as noted by the University of La Laguna in a statement.
Cetaceans play an important role in the functionality of ocean ecosystems and contribute to the battle against climate change. Nevertheless, there remains “a concerning lack” of understanding regarding fundamental aspects of their biology, natural history, and ecology.
This lack of knowledge complicates an accurate assessment of their conservation status and management requirements in wild populations.
Consequently, acquiring genetic material non-invasively from small wild individuals poses a challenge, owing to the difficulty in collecting samples that are both high in quality and quantity.
The technique explained in this article had only been successfully implemented on larger species that exhale greater volumes of air, such as the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), the right whale (Eubalaena borealis), and the orca (Orcinus orca).
In their research, the authors utilised a 6-metre-long pole to collect breath samples by positioning a polystyrene plate near the animal’s blowhole during the exhalation of air. On average, they were able to collect the sample from each individual after just two attempts.
Furthermore, from an innovative viewpoint regarding the analysis of these samples, Laura Miralles, in her laboratory at the University of Oviedo, employed a protocol that used multiplexed markers optimised for highly degraded, fragmented, and limited DNA, which allowed for the successful determination of the genetic sex of 70% of the individuals.
The study, as highlighted by the University of La Laguna, offers “extremely valuable” genetic information on cetaceans and serves as “a promising management solution” for future assessments regarding the health and population dynamics of cetaceans in their natural environments with minimal disturbance.
