DNA technique may save whales

Quote:

By Michael Casey, Associated Press
BANGKOK, Thailand â?? Australian researchers said Thursday that analyzing the skin flakes of some whales could help determine their age, a development that could invalidate one argument for killing them.
Japan has long argued that killing baleen whales, such as humpbacks and minkes, is the only way to determine how old they are, and vital to better understanding the animals' behavior.

Tokyo plans to kill over 1,000 minke whales in 2006, over 400 more than last year and more than double the number it hunted a decade ago, as part of its scientific research program.

But a team at the Southern Cross University Whale Research Center in New South Wales state said DNA in the whale's skin flakes could tell scientists how long they have lived.

"The Japanese have used a whole series of excuses to kill minke whales and their latest excuse is a claim that they need to determine their age," Peter Harrison, the center's director, told The Associated Press.

"Essentially, this (analysis) would mean Japan would no longer be able to kill whales in order to determine their age," he said. "So therefore, they would have to either modify their research program to stop killing whales or admit they are really doing commercial whaling with science as an excuse and therefore change the nature of their whaling program."

Full article: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science...a_x.htm?csp=27