Male mate choice and male-male competition coexist in the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae).

Craig, Alison S; Herman, Louis M; Pack, Adam A

Abstract

Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) outnumber females on the winter grounds and compete physically for proximity to females. Analyses of identification photographs collected in Hawai¢i from 1976 through
1995 and scan samples collected in 1998 showed that (i) reproductive potential (calving rate) for the following winter was greater for females without a calf than females with a calf, (ii) females without a calf were less likely to be found alone and more likely to be found in large pods than females with a calf, (iii) individual females were found in larger pods when without a calf than when with a calf, (iv) the probability of females with a calf being escorted by one or more males increased as the reproductive season progressed, and (v) head lunges occurred more commonly in all-adult pods than in pods containing a calf. We concluded that male humpback whales associate preferentially with females with high reproductive potential, that the attractiveness of individual females varies with their status (with a calf versus without a calf), that males become progressively less choosy over the course of the reproductive season as females without a calf become increasingly rare on the winter grounds, and that males expend more energy in competition over females without a calf than females with a calf.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: 2002-04
• Deposit Date: Jul 14, 2008
• Print ISSN: 0008-4301
• Electronic ISSN: 1480-3283
• Publisher: NRC Research Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 80
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 745-755
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1139/z02-050
• Keywords: Humpback whales; Mating behaviour; Mate selection; Competitive behaviour
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/1710
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z02-050