Overview
- The peer-reviewed research in Frontiers in Marine Science analyzed DNA from 623 whales and mapped parentage across breeding seasons.
- The population follows a polygynandrous system that produces many half-siblings and limits inbreeding in an isolated group.
- Males were only moderately polygynous and appeared to accumulate paternities gradually over long lifespans.
- Females frequently changed partners between seasons in a pattern consistent with reproductive risk management.
- The findings refine conservation assessments of effective population size, with long-term sampling enabled by partnerships with Bristol Bay Indigenous communities.