BC303: *Priority CASE Project* Population identity and foraging ecology of South Georgia humpback whales

该项目将调查人口身份，连通性，人口统计学和栖息地使用偏好的座头鲸在最近的觅食地，并比较这些与20世纪初的模式从鲸须收藏。人口起源将进行调查，使用多种遗传标记，以评估南格鲁吉亚与低纬度越冬地横跨南大西洋的关联。人口统计学将通过使用表观遗传方法估计鲸鱼年龄来测量，确定模式是否反映捕鲸时期的模式，或者殖民者是否主要是青少年。经过世纪的海洋环境变化，座头鲸的摄食偏好也可能发生了变化;该项目将使用稳定同位素将现代样本与当地猎物以及历史上的座头鲸骨骼进行比较，以确定和比较随着时间的推移的营养模式。

This project will investigate the population identity, connectedness, demography and habitat use preferences of humpbacks on a recently recolonised feeding ground and compare these with early 20th century patterns from whalebone collections. Population origins will be investigated, using multiple genetic markers to assess the association of South Georgia with low latitude wintering grounds across the South Atlantic. Population demography will be measured by estimating whale ages using epigenetic methods, establishing if patterns mirror those from the whaling period, or if the colonisers are predominantly juveniles. Over a century of oceanic environmental change, humpback whale feeding preferences may also have shifted; using stable isotopes, this project will compare modern samples with local prey, and with historical humpback bones, to identify and compare trophic patterns over time.