Craig, Alison S, Herman, Louis M and Pack, Adam A (2002) Male mate choice and male-male competition coexist in the humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Canadian Journal of Zoology, 80 (4). pp. 745-755. ISSN 14803283

Abstract/Description

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.

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