Data from: Species identification and likely catch time period of whale bones from South Georgia

Skeletal remains of baleen whales killed during the onset of 20th century commercial whaling lie scattered across the shores and abandoned whaling stations of the subantarctic island of South Georgia. Here we report on genetic species identification of whale bones collected from South Georgia using standard historical DNA protocols. We amplified and sequenced short fragments of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region from 281 available bone samples. Of these, 231 provided mtDNA sequences of sufficient quality and length (174–194 bp) for species identification: 158 bones were identified as humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), 51 bones were identified as fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), 18 bones were identified as blue whale (B. musculus), two bones were identified as sei whale (B. borealis), one bone was identified as a southern right whale (Eubalaena australis), and one bone was identified as a southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina). The prominence of humpback, fin, and blue whale bones in the sample collection corresponds to the catch record of the early years of whaling on the island of South Georgia (pre-1915), prior to the depletion of these populations.20世纪初商业捕鲸兴起时期遭捕杀的须鲸骨骼遗骸，散落在亚南极岛屿南乔治亚岛的沿岸与废弃捕鲸站各处。本研究针对从南乔治亚岛采集的鲸骨样本，采用标准古DNA实验流程开展遗传物种鉴定工作。我们从281份可获取的骨样本中，扩增并测序了线粒体DNA（mtDNA）控制区的短片段。其中231份样本获得了质量与长度均满足物种鉴定要求的mtDNA序列（174~194 bp）：经鉴定，158份为座头鲸（Megaptera novaeangliae），51份为长须鲸（Balaenoptera physalus），18份为蓝鲸（B. musculus），2份为塞鲸（B. borealis），1份为南露脊鲸（Eubalaena australis），另有1份为南象海豹（Mirounga leonina）。样本中座头鲸、长须鲸与蓝鲸骨骼占比极高，这与南乔治亚岛捕鲸早期（1915年以前）的捕捞记录相符，彼时上述种群尚未被过度捕捞。