Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985
Humpback whale mother–calf pairs from a currently unexploited population were observed in Massachusetts Bay between 1979 and 1985. During this period, 44 individually identified mature females were observed, with a total of 72 calves. Of the 20 mothers observed with more than one calf during the stu...
Published in: | Canadian Journal of Zoology |
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1987
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z87-434 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z87-434 |
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/z87-434 2024-06-23T07:53:35+00:00 Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985 Clapham, Phillip J. Mayo, Charles A. 1987 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z87-434 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z87-434 en eng Canadian Science Publishing http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 65, issue 12, page 2853-2863 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 journal-article 1987 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/z87-434 2024-06-13T04:10:51Z Humpback whale mother–calf pairs from a currently unexploited population were observed in Massachusetts Bay between 1979 and 1985. During this period, 44 individually identified mature females were observed, with a total of 72 calves. Of the 20 mothers observed with more than one calf during the study period, 12 had two calves and 8 had three calves. The observed calving intervals were 1 year (n = 1), 2 years (n = 16), 3 years (n = 10), and 4 years (n = 1). The crude birth rate varied from a low of 0.045 in 1981 to a high of 0.103 in 1983 (mean = 0.075). An alternative calculation of reproductive rate yielded a range of 0.30–0.43 calves per mature female per year. Mature females were observed significantly more frequently in years when they had a calf than in years when they did not. Females with calves associate with other whales less frequently than females without calves. Observations of calves feeding suggest that weaning may begin when calves are 5–6 months of age. Forty-five of the 49 calves born before 1985 separated from their mothers during the calf's second winter, while 37 of the 49 were observed to return to the study area in 1 or more years after separation from their mothers. One calf is known to have died. Two females born during the study period returned with calves of their own in later years. The high return rate of calves in years after separation strongly suggests that the composition of a humpback whale feeding stock is determined matrilineally. Article in Journal/Newspaper Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae Canadian Science Publishing Canadian Journal of Zoology 65 12 2853 2863 |
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Canadian Science Publishing |
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crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
description |
Humpback whale mother–calf pairs from a currently unexploited population were observed in Massachusetts Bay between 1979 and 1985. During this period, 44 individually identified mature females were observed, with a total of 72 calves. Of the 20 mothers observed with more than one calf during the study period, 12 had two calves and 8 had three calves. The observed calving intervals were 1 year (n = 1), 2 years (n = 16), 3 years (n = 10), and 4 years (n = 1). The crude birth rate varied from a low of 0.045 in 1981 to a high of 0.103 in 1983 (mean = 0.075). An alternative calculation of reproductive rate yielded a range of 0.30–0.43 calves per mature female per year. Mature females were observed significantly more frequently in years when they had a calf than in years when they did not. Females with calves associate with other whales less frequently than females without calves. Observations of calves feeding suggest that weaning may begin when calves are 5–6 months of age. Forty-five of the 49 calves born before 1985 separated from their mothers during the calf's second winter, while 37 of the 49 were observed to return to the study area in 1 or more years after separation from their mothers. One calf is known to have died. Two females born during the study period returned with calves of their own in later years. The high return rate of calves in years after separation strongly suggests that the composition of a humpback whale feeding stock is determined matrilineally. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Clapham, Phillip J. Mayo, Charles A. |
spellingShingle |
Clapham, Phillip J. Mayo, Charles A. Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985 |
author_facet |
Clapham, Phillip J. Mayo, Charles A. |
author_sort |
Clapham, Phillip J. |
title |
Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985 |
title_short |
Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985 |
title_full |
Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985 |
title_fullStr |
Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, observed in Massachusetts Bay, 1979–1985 |
title_sort |
reproduction and recruitment of individually identified humpback whales, megaptera novaeangliae, observed in massachusetts bay, 1979–1985 |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
1987 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z87-434 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z87-434 |
genre |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
genre_facet |
Humpback Whale Megaptera novaeangliae |
op_source |
Canadian Journal of Zoology volume 65, issue 12, page 2853-2863 ISSN 0008-4301 1480-3283 |
op_rights |
http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/page/about/CorporateTextAndDataMining |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/z87-434 |
container_title |
Canadian Journal of Zoology |
container_volume |
65 |
container_issue |
12 |
container_start_page |
2853 |
op_container_end_page |
2863 |
_version_ |
1802645323321966592 |