Genomes making waves for Critically Endangered Marine Mammals 

Recently, the Cetacean Genomes Project, Darwin Tree of Life, and the Vertebrate Genomes Project joined forces to publish a paper highlighting 18 high-quality whale and dolphin genomes (Morin et al., 2025). The authors took advantage of chance strandings of these marine giants to obtain samples from hard-to-find species like the critically endangered Rice’s whale, North Atlantic right whale, and vaquita porpoise. Extracting high-quality DNA from these opportunistic chance sampling opportunities often requires specialized DNA extraction techniques. Reference genomes from threatened species like these are the jumping-off point for downstream population genomics studies, which can identify potential for inbreeding depression and help to develop appropriate conservation strategies for the species most at risk of extinction. For example, the team leveraged the genome of the vaquita porpoise—one of the most endangered mammals globally with fewer than 10 mature adults in the wild—to determine that, surprisingly, the species has an extremely low mutational load. Recently, conservation planning models indicated that inbreeding depression, a common risk for very small or bottlenecked populations, is unlikely to pose a major concern for vaquita conservation and recovery (Robinson et al., 2022). Unfortunately, accidental bycatch and the purposeful targeting for the illegal wildlife trade remain significant threats to the species’ survival. Additionally, with only 10 adult individuals remaining, their risk of extinction remains extremely high and is further compounded by the population’s reduced resilience to additional stressors such as emerging diseases, ongoing climate change, and limited available resources.

Dr. Phil Morin, head of the EBP-affiliated Cetacean Genomes Project, emphasized the importance of rapid access to reference genomes for advancing conservation efforts to protect marine mammals at risk of extinction:

“Availability of the genomic resources from these species is catalyzing diverse studies, including health, evolution, taxonomy, adaptation, and critical vulnerabilities of these and other whale, dolphin, and porpoise species.”