Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters engage in strenuous aggression toward con-specifics. The social context and sex of individuals involved suggest that aggression is the result of male–male competition for sexually mature females, including cows with newborn calves...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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Language: | English |
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Canadian Science Publishing
1984
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z84-282 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z84-282 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z84-282 2024-09-09T19:51:54+00:00 Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters Baker, C. Scott Herman, Louis M. 1984 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z84-282 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z84-282 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 62, issue 10, page 1922-1937 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 1984 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z84-282 2024-08-22T04:08:45Z Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters engage in strenuous aggression toward con-specifics. The social context and sex of individuals involved suggest that aggression is the result of male–male competition for sexually mature females, including cows with newborn calves. Characteristic behaviors associated with aggression occur in a roughly hierarchical scaling of intensity and include broadside displays, underwater exhalations, head lunges (in which the throat is inflated and enlarged), physical displacement, and charge–strikes. Humpback whales do not form stable pair bonds during the winter breeding season; females are seen serially and simultaneously with multiple males and males are seen serially with multiple females. Repeated observations of individually identified whales indicate that escorting and singing are interchangeable reproductive roles of mature males. Incidents of aggression show a seasonal increase and decrease that parallel changes in abundance and average pod size. A seasonal peak in the frequency of aggression is probably related to an increase in population density and to changes in the reproductive physiology of mature males and females. It is suggested that singing may function, in part, to synchronize ovulation in females with the peak abundance of mature males on the wintering grounds. Article in Journal/Newspaper Megaptera novaeangliae Canadian Science Publishing The Throat ENVELOPE(-76.666,-76.666,57.050,57.050) Canadian Journal of Zoology 62 10 1922 1937 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters engage in strenuous aggression toward con-specifics. The social context and sex of individuals involved suggest that aggression is the result of male–male competition for sexually mature females, including cows with newborn calves. Characteristic behaviors associated with aggression occur in a roughly hierarchical scaling of intensity and include broadside displays, underwater exhalations, head lunges (in which the throat is inflated and enlarged), physical displacement, and charge–strikes. Humpback whales do not form stable pair bonds during the winter breeding season; females are seen serially and simultaneously with multiple males and males are seen serially with multiple females. Repeated observations of individually identified whales indicate that escorting and singing are interchangeable reproductive roles of mature males. Incidents of aggression show a seasonal increase and decrease that parallel changes in abundance and average pod size. A seasonal peak in the frequency of aggression is probably related to an increase in population density and to changes in the reproductive physiology of mature males and females. It is suggested that singing may function, in part, to synchronize ovulation in females with the peak abundance of mature males on the wintering grounds. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Baker, C. Scott Herman, Louis M. |
spellingShingle |
Baker, C. Scott Herman, Louis M. Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters |
author_facet |
Baker, C. Scott Herman, Louis M. |
author_sort |
Baker, C. Scott |
title |
Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters |
title_short |
Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters |
title_full |
Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters |
title_fullStr |
Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters |
title_full_unstemmed |
Aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in Hawaiian waters |
title_sort |
aggressive behavior between humpback whales ( megaptera novaeangliae) wintering in hawaiian waters |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1984 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z84-282 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z84-282 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-76.666,-76.666,57.050,57.050) |
geographic |
The Throat |
geographic_facet |
The Throat |
genre |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 62, issue 10, page 1922-1937 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z84-282 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
62 |
container_issue |
10 |
container_start_page |
1922 |
op_container_end_page |
1937 |
_version_ |
1809921214546706432 |