By Susan Milius
New genetic studies of whale meat from Tokyo grocery stores appear to strengthen the case for protecting Antarctica’s minke whales against renewed hunting.
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The DNA from minke samples shows such genetic diversity that the Antarctic population must have been extensive for the past 200,000 years, says a Stanford University researcher. That long history challenges the view of some whaling advocates that the 8-meter-long minkes used to be rare in Antarctica but flourished as other whales dwindled. This boom supposedly keeps populations of bigger, competing whales from growing.