Download or read book Maternal behaviour of humpback whales in southeast Alaska written by Andrew Ronald Szabo and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this study, I characterize the maternal care patterns of humpback whales in southeast Alaska. Through a study of proximity behaviour, I show that humpbacks behave similarly to terrestrial ungulate 'followers': the cow and calf are rarely more than several body lengths apart; proximity between the cow and calf is greatest during periods of travel relative to other behaviours; and, proximity is greatest when the dive behaviour of the pair is synchronized. Unlike that observed in typical follower species, however, proximity is not found to decrease significantly as the pair's association lengthens. To account for this, I argue that the length of the observation period was insufficient to detect such a trend since maternal pairs remain together for several months after the last observations. In addition, I analyze the diving behaviour of the maternal pair to examine the potential negative consequences for the female associated with the follower tactic in humpbacks. The results suggest that several behavioural modifications are made by the cow and calf in an effort to minimize the duration of separation between the two. Ultimately, I argue that behaviour observed in humpback whales is commensurate in function with following behaviour in terrestrial ungulate followers. Humpbacks are migratory, and as in many migratory species, following behaviour provides a mechanism whereby the maternal dyad can maintain close proximity during periods of travel. Moreover, as with many follower species, humpbacks can rely upon their large size as a means of defence against offspring predation. Finally, although obvious differences exist between the habitats in which humpbacks and ungulate followers reside, arguably both are open habitats that lack the cover necessary to allow for offspring concealment.
Download or read book Sounds Source Levels and Associated Behavior of Humpback Whales Southeast Alaska written by Paul O. Thompson and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Humpback Whales in Glacier Bay National Monument Alaska written by United States. Marine Mammal Commission and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-09-17 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 'Humpback Whales in Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska,' the United States Marine Mammal Commission provides a comprehensive study on the migration patterns, behavior, and conservation status of the iconic humpback whales in this particular region. The book is written in a scientific and analytical style, with detailed observations and data analysis that contribute to our understanding of the marine ecosystem within Glacier Bay National Monument. The authors utilize a multidisciplinary approach, combining biology, ecology, and environmental science to paint a holistic picture of the humpback whale population in Alaska. This book is a valuable resource for researchers, conservationists, and anyone interested in marine mammal studies. It sheds light on the importance of preserving the delicate balance of marine life in this unique and biodiverse region. The authors, affiliated with the Marine Mammal Commission, bring a wealth of expertise and experience to the subject matter, making this book a relevant and authoritative source for marine conservation efforts. Readers will gain insight into the complex interactions between humpback whales and their environment, which will deepen their appreciation for these majestic creatures and the continued need for conservation initiatives.
Download or read book The impact of vessel traffic on the behavior of humpback whales in southeast Alaska written by and published by . This book was released on 1982 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Influence of Local Fidelity and Recruitment on Population Dynamics and Specialized Foraging of Humpback Whales in Glacier Bay and Icy Strait Alaska written by Sophie Penny Pierszalowski and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae, Borowski 1781) in the North Pacific migrate from mid- to high- latitude summer feeding grounds along the Pacific Rim, including areas off the coasts of the U.S., Canada, Russia and eastern Asia, to tropical breeding grounds each winter along Pacific coasts of Mexico and Central America as well as the offshore islands of Mexico, Hawaii, and Japan. Humpback whales in the North Pacific and elsewhere were reduced to very low numbers during a period of intense commercial exploitation that ended in 1965. As the population recovers in abundance, the range of cultural and genetic diversity that survived the exploitation-driven bottleneck is able to adapt, endure and evolve. My work uses genetic tools and photo identification data to investigate the population dynamics, mitochondrial (mt) DNA control region evolution and potential drivers of a specialized feeding behavior in a recovering subpopulation of humpback whales in the Glacier Bay and Icy Strait (GBIS) sub-region of the southeastern Alaska (SEAK) feeding ground. I first collated and reconciled available DNA profiles (mtDNA control region, 10 microsatellite loci and sex) from 556 individuals using tissue samples collected from 1987 to 2012. Photo identification records associated with 692 of 1,026 total genetic samples collected in SEAK (now archived within the SEAK DNA Register and Tissue Database) corresponded to extensive life-history information, extending back to the early 1970s, as archived within the SEAK Regional Database, curated by the National Park Service (NPS) and University of Alaska, Southeast (UAS). Changes in population structure in GBIS over 32 years (1973-2005) were investigated in order to determine whether the increase in local abundance was attributable to local fidelity and recruitment or immigration from outside of SEAK. Two temporal strata were defined: 'Founder' individuals identified between 1973-1985 (n = 74, n = 46 with DNA profiles) and 'Contemporary' individuals identified between 2004-2005 (n = 171, n = 114 with DNA profiles). There was no significant genetic differentiation between the strata, indicating that it is unlikely that the population increase within GBIS was due largely to immigration of whales from elsewhere in the North Pacific. However, two additional haplotypes were documented in the Contemporary stratum at low frequency, one of which was previously unreported in the North Pacific (haplotype A8, see below). This relative stability in haplotype frequencies over time argues for strong regional fidelity of the maternal lineages represented in GBIS between 1973 and 1985. After excluding the 42 Contemporary whales with no photo ID record of a mother or genotype available for maternity inference, at least 73.6% (n = 95) of the Contemporary stratum was either a returning Founder or a recruited descendant of a Founder female. Of all genetically confirmed females with genotypes in the Founder stratum, 96% (n = 24) were either represented in the Contemporary stratum, had at least one confirmed descendant in the Contemporary stratum, or both. This high proportion, in addition to the large proportion of the verifiable Contemporary stratum that were either returning Founders or a descendant of a Founder female, provides clear evidence for local fidelity and recruitment to GBIS. The discovery of the A8 haplotype, which differs by one base pair from a common haplotype referred to as A-, represents an increase in mtDNA diversity for the North Pacific humpback whale from 28 to 29 haplotypes. To investigate the origin of this new haplotype, we re-evaluated n = 1089 electropherograms of n = 710 individuals with A- haplotypes from both the SEAK DNA Register and Tissue Database and the ocean-wide program, SPLASH (Baker et al. 2013). From this review, we identified two individuals with the A8 haplotype (a cow and calf, both sampled in GBIS) and n = 20 individuals with clear heteroplasmy for haplotypes A-/A8. The majority of A-/A8 individuals (n = 15) were sampled in SEAK. Genotype exclusion and likelihood were used to identify one of the heteroplasmic females, #196 (first sighted in SEAK in 1982), as the likely mother of the A8 cow and grandmother of the A8 calf, establishing the inheritance and germ-line fixation of the new haplotype from the parental heteroplasmy. Based on life history records and estimates of pairwise relatedness from microsatellite genotypes, it appears likely that the A-/A8 and the A8 individuals are descendants from a common maternal ancestor one or more generations prior to the three generations documented here. Humpback whale sociality takes a distinct form in Icy Strait, where whales form large, coordinated groups with repeated membership across several decades. Twenty-one years of group association records (1985-2005, n = 2,204 groups) were used to investigate the hypothesis that kin selection influences membership in large, stable groups. Of the 2204 groups recorded, 113 consisted of 6 or more individuals; a size considered unexpectedly large assuming a Poisson distribution of group size with a mean of 1.7. A total of n = 71 individuals (n = 48 with DNA profiles) were encountered in a large group in at least one year, n = 38 individuals (n = 34 with DNA profiles) were encountered in a large group in at least two years, n = 29 individuals (n = 27 with DNA profiles) were encountered in a large group in at least three years, decreasing to n = 2 individuals (n = 2 with DNA profiles) that were encountered in a large group in at least 20 years. There were no significant differences in mtDNA frequencies between large group feeders and the Founder and Contemporary strata or when compared to whales never encountered in large groups in Icy Strait, indicating that group membership is not predominately passed through one maternal lineage. Sex ratios did not deviate significantly from 1:1 for those feeding in large groups over an increasing number of years, as would be expected if females were actively recruiting offspring into large groups. The average pairwise relatedness for large group feeders was not significantly greater than expected by chance and did not increase for those feeding in large groups over an increasing number of years. Of the 179 known offspring of females encountered in a large group, only 6% were also encountered in a large group in Icy Strait as an adult and only 2.2% in the same large group as their mother. These results indicate that kin selection is not the primary driver of membership in large, stable groups and pose an interesting dynamic in local habitat use: individuals are recruited to GBIS through local maternal fidelity but do not usually associate closely with direct maternal kin. The extensive collection of DNA profiles now archived with the individual-based data within the SEAK Regional Database allowed us to integrate genetics and photo ID to answer ecologically relevant questions regarding the whales in GBIS. Together, these results demonstrate that GBIS provide habitat for a distinct collection of individuals that exhibit strong fidelity and local recruitment, some of which engage in a highly specialized feeding behavior. Further, GBIS is a local feeding habitat for two individuals with a newly arising North Pacific mtDNA haplotype. These findings reveal local genotypic and cultural variation and highlight the importance of habitat protection for species with fine-scale habitat use and strong fidelity to local migratory destinations.
Download or read book Meeting to Review Ongoing and Planned Research Concerning Humpback Whales in Glacier Bay and Surrounding Waters in Southeast Alaska written by and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Toward the Social and Acoustic Ecology of Social Foraging Humpback Whales Megaptera Novaeangliae in Southeast Alaska written by Sean Frederick Thurman Hanser and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Social Foraging of the Southeast Alaskan Humpback Whale Megaptera Novaengliae written by Fred Sharpe and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relative to other baleen whale populations, the humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae inhabiting Southeast Alaska are noteworthy in that they form large, enduring groups when foraging on schools of Pacific herring Clupea harengus pallasi. These groups use a variety of unusual feeding tactics when attacking prey, including the production of loud feeding calls, the release of bubbles, and the waving of their large pectoral flippers. Past observations of these groups have been largely anecdotal so little is known about their social behavior or the function of their feeding tactics. In particular, it is unclear if these pods are based on cooperative interactions or if they represent groups of individuals who are competing for prey that occurs in dense aggregations. In addition, little is known about the underlying social structure of these pods and whether they are composed of kin. The objective of this study was to employ field and laboratory techniques to gain insight into the function of the unusual feeding tactics, and to describe the basic social structure of these pods. In order to test the prediction that bubbles, feeding calls, and flipper movements represent prey manipulation tactics, herring schools were brought into the laboratory and subjected to various simulated humpback whale feeding behaviors. I found that these simulated behaviors produced strong avoidance responses from the herring schools, suggesting that humpback whales use these tactics to manipulate the behavior of their prey. Seven years of field observations revealed that humpbacks with enduring social bonds (i.e., high coefficients of association) specialized on herring and represented a small proportion of the entire whale population. Calves born to these "core members" were never observed to return and feed with their mothers in subsequent years, suggesting that these groups are not composed of close kin. This was verified by analysis of haplotype variation in the mitochondrial genome and microsatellite variation in the nuclear genome. Individuals within these pods appear to invest in by-product benefits, with the enduring bonds between whales in Chatham Strait (cf. krill feeders in Frederick Sound) possibly representing combinations of individuals performing compatible tasks (Le., bubble blower, herder, vocalizer).
Download or read book Ethology and Behavioral Ecology of Mysticetes written by Christopher W. Clark and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-07-02 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, an international team of leading marine mammal scientists, with a remarkably diverse set of backgrounds and areas of expertise, lead you through a synthesis of current knowledge on baleen whales. Baleen whales are the largest animals ever to have lived on this planet. They also have the lowest and most intense voices on Earth, most likely evolved to take advantage of ocean acoustic transmission conditions so as to be detectable across ocean basins. Some baleen whales can live to be 150-200 years old. They migrate many thousands of kilometers between feeding and breeding areas. They produce songs and calls that serve as behavioral foundations for establishing, maintaining and expanding their cultural identities. To conclude that we know the behavioral limits of these large brained, long-lived animals would be naïve. As baleen whale scientists, we are still beginning to comprehend the enormous complexities and natural histories of these remarkable animals. Today, the fact that whales sing is known throughout much of the world. This awareness started 50 years ago with the publication and popularization of a collection of humpback song recordings that motivated research into baleen whale behavioral ethology. In this book’s chapters, a reader’s experiences will stretch from learning about baleen whale laryngeal anatomy associated with their different voices to learning about the vast ocean areas over which their voices can be heard and the emerging complexities of their culturally defined societies. These are accompanied by chapters on the fundamental ethological contexts of socializing, migrating, and foraging. Two common themes permeate the book. One theme highlights the phenomenal increase in scientific knowledge achieved through technological advancements. The other theme recognizes the impacts of human-made activities on ocean acoustic environments and the resultant influences on the health and survival of individual whales and their populations. Although the book is intentionally ambitious in its scope, as scientists, we fully recognize that baleen whale science is still in its infancy. Many profound revelations await discovery by cohorts of young, multi-talented explorers, some of whom are stretching their wings in this volume and some of whom are reading these scientific stories for the first time.
Download or read book The Impact of Vessel Traffic on the Behavior of Humpback Whales in Southeast Alaska 1982 Season written by C. Scott Baker and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Whale watching Impacts Science Human Dimensions and Management written by Aldo S. Pacheco and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2022-02-02 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Biology of Marine Mammals written by John E. Reynolds and published by Smithsonian Institution. This book was released on 2013-08-06 with total page 589 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Taking an integrated approach to the biology of marine carnivores, cetaceans, and sirenians, twenty-two prominent researchers compare marine mammals with one another and with terrestrial mammals, providing a framework for fundamental biological and ecological concepts. They describe functional morphology, sensory systems, energetics, reproduction, communication and cognition, behavior, distribution, population biology, and feeding ecology. They also detail the physiological adaptations—for such activities and processes as diving, thermo-regulation, osmoregulation, and orientation—that enable marine mammals to exploit their aquatic environment.
Download or read book Frederick Sound Humpback Whales written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 2 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Site Fidelity and Reproductive Histories of Humpback Whales in the Hawaiian Islands and Southeast Alaska written by Alison S. Craig and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals written by William F. Perrin and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2009-02-26 with total page 1355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thorough revision of the classic Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals brings this authoritative book right up-to-date. Articles describe every species in detail, based on the very latest taxonomy, and a host of biological, ecological and sociological aspects relating to marine mammals. The latest information on the biology, ecology, anatomy, behavior and interactions with man is provided by a cast of expert authors – all presented in such detail and clarity to support both marine mammal specialists and the serious naturalist. Fully referenced throughout and with a fresh selection of the best color photographs available, the long-awaited second edition remains at the forefront as the go-to reference on marine mammals. - More than 20% NEW MATERIAL includes articles on Climate Change, Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Sociobiology, Habitat Use, Feeding Morphology and more - Over 260 articles on the individual species with topics ranging from anatomy and behavior, to conservation, exploitation and the impact of global climate change on marine mammals - New color illustrations show every species and document topical articles FROM THE FIRST EDITION "This book is so good...a bargain, full of riches...packed with fascinating up to date information. I recommend it unreservedly it to individuals, students, and researchers, as well as libraries." --Richard M. Laws, MARINE MAMMALS SCIENCE "...establishes a solid and satisfying foundation for current study and future exploration" --Ronald J. Shusterman, SCIENCE
Download or read book Behaviour of Whales in Relation to Management written by Gregory P. Donovan and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 14 papers concerning the behaviour and population dynamics of whales including studies in the Beaufort, Bering and Chukchi seas.
Download or read book Migrations Abundance and Behavior of Hawaiian Humback Whales Megaptera Novaeangliae Borowski written by James David Darling and published by . This book was released on 1983 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
