Jenny Christal
My PhD was entitled "An analysis of sperm whale social structure: patterns of association and genetic
relatedness". My field research was based in the Galápagos Islands breeding
ground (on the equator, 1000km west of Ecuador, South America).
Dr Hal Whitehead began a photo-identification study of this sperm whale population in 1985. Up
to and including my field season in 1997, we now have records spanning 12 years.
I used photo-identification and behavioural data to examine patterns of association, and
hence, relationships between individual sperm whales. Genetic techniques using Mitochondrial
d-loop and microsatellite markers, and DNA extracted from sloughed skin samples,
enabled me to compare association patterns to patterns of genetic relatedness.
Thesis Table of Contents:
Chapter One: Introduction
Chapter Two: Temporal analysis of the social structure of female and juvenile sperm
whales
Chapter Three: Sperm whale social units: variation and change
Chapter Four: The genetic structure of sperm whale social units and groups
Chapter Five: Patterns of association within sperm whale groups: reflections of
long-term relationships and genetic relatedness?
Chapter Six: The abundance and behaviour of large male sperm whales around the
Galapagos Islands
Chapter Seven: General discussion
Appendix One: Details of delineated units
PUBLICATIONS:
|
Christal, J., and H. Whitehead. 2001. Social affiliations within sperm whale
(Physeter macrocephalus) groups. Ethology 107: 323-340. |
![](http://is.dal.ca/~whitelab/abstract.jpg) |
Christal, J., H. Whitehead and E. Lettevall. 1998. Sperm whale social units: variation
and change. Can. J. Zool. 76: 1431-1440 |
![](http://is.dal.ca/~whitelab/abstract.jpg) |
Whitehead, H., J. Christal, and S. Dufault. 1997. Past and
distant whaling and the rapid decline
of sperm whales off the Galápagos Islands. Conservation Biology 11: 1387-1396 |
![](http://is.dal.ca/~whitelab/abstract.jpg) |
Christal J., and H. Whitehead. 1997. Aggregations of mature male sperm whales on the Galápagos
Islands breeding ground. Marine Mammal Science 13:59-69 |