The northern elephant seal went through a severe population decline as a result of human hunting. The population has rebounded but is there is little genetic variation between individuals. This is an example of?

Bottle-neck effect

Explanation:

Bottle neck effect is a type of genetic drift where there is a sharp and gradual reduction of a population due to human activities or environmental events.

Due reduction in the size of the population, there will be reduction in the gene pool therefore leading to little genetic variation.

Just like in the northern elephant seal, human hunting lead to their gradual reduction of their population. This made the elephant population have a little genetic variation between individuals.