[Animals] Study finds small water samples can find really big animals

[#Wittels-]

Washington [US], March 2 (ANI): A team of scientists used an emerging genetic tool that analyses DNA in water samples to detect big animals like whales and dolphins in New York waters.

 

Washington [USA] USA], March 2 (ANI): A team of scientists used an emerging genetic tool that analyzes DNA in water samples to detect large animals such as whales and dolphins in New York waters.

Called environmental DNA or eDNA, the technique looks for traces of genetic material left behind by wildlife.

The study was led by scientists from California State University, CUNY, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), and Columbia University. It was published in the magazine 'Frontiers'.

The scientists said eDNA can be used to complement other methods for locating whales and dolphins, such as visual observations and acoustic monitoring, and their eDNA detections are some of the most promising to date for detecting whales and dolphins in seawater. in open sea.

Said study lead author Dr. Elizabeth Alter of California State University: “Determining how cetaceans and other threatened marine animals use coastal habitats is critical to their effective conservation. By generating eDNA data in parallel with the survey data, it will be possible to gain a clearer understanding of how this tool can be used in management and conservation contexts to monitor species of conservation concern in large marine ecosystems.”

 

In addition to finding whales and dolphins, the technique detected baitfish present in the area preyed on by whales and dolphins. The authors said that the technique could eventually be used to identify individual animals.
Said Dr. Howard C. Rosenbaum, Director of WCS’s Ocean Giants Program/Senior Scientist NY Aquarium and a co-author of the study: “Innovation and application of new techniques, such as the possibility of using eDNA, that leads to having better information about distribution of whales, dolphins and their prey is so important today, especially where potential impacts in these habitats may be increasing human activities.”
 

The Biden-Harris administration, New York State and other states on the eastern seaboard are scaling up massive renewable energy projects to meet energy demands and help address climate change, including a wind energy auction for more than 488,000 acres in the New York Bight. There are many potential impacts from these developments to whales that the environmental community, industry, and state/federal authorities are aiming to address. WCS has been involved at state and national level dialogues as well as developing best practice guidance through the IUCN. The use of emerging and novel techniques such as eDNA as demonstrated by the results of the current study in the NY Bight and other approaches can offer new insights as to whale presence and their prey in and around lease areas as offshore wind scales up along the eastern seaboard. More broadly, WCS increasingly uses eDNA in its conservation work, detecting critically endangered wildlife such as Swinhoe’s softshell turtle, in the Bolivian Amazon, and in some of the most rugged areas on the planet including Mt. Everest. (ANI) This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

 

Link: https://theprint.in/science/study-finds-small-water-samples-can-find-really-big-animals/854964/