ABSTRACT

Population genetic investigations of marine mammals date back several decades. The earliest studies examined patterns of phenotypic variation in blood proteins and enzymes to estimate the level of gene flow among spatially discrete groupings of animals (e.g., Shaughnessy 1969; McClenaghan and O’Shea 1988; Gales et al. 1989; Daníelsdóttir et al. 1992), to assess the genetic consequences of population bottlenecks and founder events (Bonnell and Selander 1974), and to test theories about the relationship between life history strategies and genetic diversity (Allendorf et al. 1979). These studies launched a new field of inquiry into the evolution, ecology and behavior of marine mammals that quickly developed from surveys of phenotypic variation in gene products to assessments of variation within the genetic material, the DNA, itself. Over the next 30 years, genetic investigation of marine mammal populations was revolutionized by the advent of cloning technology and the development of the Polymerase Chain Reaction, by remote biopsy methods of sample collection and more efficient methods of sample preservation, and by the development of new approaches to analyzing and interpreting molecular genetic data.