1. Microsatellite analysis of Bowhead whales (Baleana mysticetus) from the Bering- Chukchi-Beaufort Seas with regards to population stock structure and genetic bottlenecks Ryan M. Huebinger, John C. Patton, John C. George, Robert S. Suydam, Geof H. Givens, Lianne Postma and John W. Bickham

2. Bering Sea Beaufort Sea Davis Strait Hudson Bay Five identified stocks –Spitsbergen –Davis Strait –Hudson Bay –Okhotsk Sea –Bering-Chukchi-Beaufort Seas (BCBS) Bowhead stocks Sea of Okhotsk Spitsbergen

3. Barrow

4. Previous work 11 microsatellite loci on 207 individuals from BCB Jorde et al. (2004) detected potential population structure with in BCB (Oslo Bump) Mitochondrial analysis was unable to detect population structuring within BCB (LeDuc et al., 2006)

6. New Data 22 Microsatellite Loci developed specific for Bowheads 307 individuals from BCB 65 individuals from Sea of Okhotsk 50 individuals from Igloolik, Canada

7. Analyses Fst’s calculated utilizing FSTAT (Goudet, 2004) STRUCTURE (Pritchard et al., 2000 ) BOTTLENECK v 1.2.1 (Cornuet and Luikart, 1996) Oslo Bump analysis (Givens and Ozaksoy, 2006)

8. Fst values StrataFst 95% C Canada vs. Okhotsk0.057 (0.034, 0.089) BCB vs. Okhotsk0.036 (0.027, 0.045) BCB vs. Canada0.026 (0.007, 0.061) Barrow vs. St. Lawrence Island 0.002 (-0.001, 0.006)

9. STRUCTURE Results K=3 K=4 K=5

10. Oslo Bump analysis

11. Bottleneck No significant genetic bottleneck was detected

12. Acknowledgements Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission North Slope Borough Whaling Captains and Crew Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada Steve Maclean