Dandruff latest step in saving whales
Thursday, 03 Aug 2006 11:27
Dandruff latest step in saving whales
Dandruff has become the latest step in determining how old a whale is, which scientists claim is vital for learning how well populations are recovering from commercial whaling over the last century.
Scientists from the Southern Cross University whale research centre have been scooping up the skin flakes whales shed into the sea and then analysing the DNA to look at telomeres – structures which cap the end of chromosomes and shorten with age in many animal species.
Dr Peter Harrison, who led the study, said in the journal Nature that although the efficacy of the technique has yet to be conclusively proved, early results have been encouraging and suggest that calves and adult whales can be distinguished on the basis of telomere length.
Current age-testing procedures can only take place once the whale is dead; the whale is dissected and the layers of ear wax counted.
Although Dr Harrison said that the dandruff technique is unlikely to be as accurate as counting ear wax lamination, he believes that the age range it would be able to estimate – between five and ten years of accuracy – is sufficient to monitor the populations.
"It's better to have the approximate age of a live whale than the exact age of a dead whale," he said.
The need for population monitoring is great, researchers believe, as Japan is set to increase its annual catch of minke whales for scientific research, including humpback and fin whales for the first time.
Knowing how old whales are will also help scientists to gain insights into their mating tactics, behaviour and how long they live for.