As species recover from exploitation, continued assessments of connectivity and population structure are warranted to provide information for conservation and management. This is particularly true in species with high dispersal capacity, such as migratory whales, where patterns of connectivity could change rapidly. Here we build on a previous long-term, large-scale collaboration on southern right whales (Eubalaena australis) to combine new (nnew) and published (npub) mitochondrial (mtDNA) and microsatellite genetic data from all major wintering grounds and, uniquely, the South Georgia (Islas Georgias del Sur: SG) feeding grounds. Specifically, we include data from Argentina (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 208/46), Brazil (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 50/50), South Africa (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 66/77, npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 350/47), Chile-Peru (nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 1/1), the Indo-Pacific (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 769/126), and SG (npub mtDNA/microsatellite = 8/0, nnew mtDNA/microsatellite = 3/11) to investigate the position of previously unstudied habitats in the migratory network: Brazil, SG, and Chile-Peru. These new genetic data show connectivity between Brazil and Argentina, exemplified by weak genetic differentiation and the movement of 1 genetically identified individual between the South American grounds. The single sample from Chile-Peru had an mtDNA haplotype previously only observed in the Indo-Pacific and had a nuclear genotype that appeared admixed between the Indo-Pacific and South Atlantic, based on genetic clustering and assignment algorithms. The SG samples were clearly South Atlantic and were more similar to the South American than the South African wintering grounds. This study highlights how international collaborations are critical to provide context for emerging or recovering regions, like the SG feeding ground, as well as those that remain critically endangered, such as Chile-Peru.

Área de Proteção Ambiental Anhatomirim ICMBio MMA Florianópolis SC Brazil

Biology Department Swarthmore College Swarthmore PA

Biology Department Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Woods Hole MA

British Antarctic Survey Cambridge UK

Centro de Conservación Cetacea Casilla 19178 Correo 19 Santiago Chile

Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas Laboratorio de Ecología Evolutiva Humana UNCPBA Quequén Buenos Aires Province Argentina

Departamento de Zoologia Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora Campus Universitário Juiz de Fora MG Brazil

Department of Biology and Ecology University of Ostrava Ostrava Czech Republic

Department of Biology Saint Mary's University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada

Department of Statistics University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand

Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Dyer Island Conservation Trust Great White House Kleinbaai Gansbaai South Africa

Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande do Sul Torres RS Brazil

IFAW 87 90 Albert Embankment London UK

Instituto Aqualie Juiz de Fora MG Brazil

Instituto Australis Imbituba Santa Catarina Brazil

Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas Universidad Andrés Bello Chile

Instituto de Conservación de Ballenas Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires Argentina

Ivanhoe Sea Safaris Gansbaai South Africa

Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean University of Washington Seattle WA

Laboratório de Ecologia de Mamíferos Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos Centro de Ciências da Saúde Sao Leopoldo RS Brazil

Mammal Research Institute Whale Unit Department of Zoology and Entomology University of Pretoria Hatfield South Africa

Marine Ecology and Telemetry Research Seabeck WA

Marine Mammal Institute and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Oregon State University Newport OR

Marine Mammal Laboratory Alaska Fisheries Science Center National Marine Fisheries Service NOAA Seattle WA

Programa de Pós Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul Porto Alegre Brazil

School of Biological Sciences University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand

School of Biological Sciences University of Utah Salt Lake City UT

School of Biology University of St Andrews St Andrews UK

School of Mathematics and Statistics Victoria University of Wellington Wellington New Zealand

Scottish Association for Marine Science Oban Argyll Scotland

Section of Marine Mammal Research Department of Bioscience Aarhus University Aarhus Denmark

Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul Osório RS Brazil

University of Southampton Southampton UK

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