Four centuries of commercial whaling eroded 11,000 years of population stability in bowhead whales
Summary
Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia. (3)Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. (4)Bioinformatics Research Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. (5)Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. (6)Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada. (7)Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. (8)Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Center, 9296 Tromsø, Nor
Content
# Four centuries of commercial whaling eroded 11,000 years of population stability in bowhead whales
*Published: 2026 Apr 2*
Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide,
SA, Australia.
(3)Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
(4)Bioinformatics Research Center, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
(5)Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
(6)Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, ON, Canada.
(7)Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
(8)Norwegian Polar Institute, Fram Center, 9296 Tromsø, Norway.
(9)Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
(10)Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Environment
Institute and School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide,
SA, Australia; Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, University of
Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark; Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
(11)Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic
address: elinelorenzen@sund.ku.dk.
Bowhead whales were heavily exploited during commercial whaling between the 16th
and 20th centuries. Current and near-future climate warming poses a new threat.
Assessing bowhead vulnerability to climatic change remains challenging due to
insufficient knowledge regarding responses to past climates and pre-whaling
population dynamics. We integrate paleogenomics and stable isotopes (δ13C and
δ15N) from 206 bowhead fossils from the Atlantic Arctic with paleoclimate and
ecological modeling based on 823 radiocarbon-dated fossils, including 140 from
this study. We find long-term resilience of bowheads to Holocene environmental
perturbations, with no detectable changes in genetic diversity or population
structure. Simulated commercial-whaling-driven genetic and fitness changes
indicate that population subdivision and loss of genetic diversity are unlikely
to be fully realized, despite nearly a century since whaling ceased.
Furthermore, even in simulated complete population recovery scenarios, overall
fitness did not return to pre-whaling levels, potentially compromising the
future resilience of bowhead whales.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2026.02.022