Magaptera Novaeglia

1
Getting it On
2
Road Trip!

• Winter warm, low latitude tropical waters (breed
  and give birth)
• Spring/Summer/Autumn cooler, high latitude polar
  waters (feed)

3
Let's Keep It Moving

• Humpbacks are capable of traveling at 5 mph but,
  during a long journey, they average only 1 mph,
  resting and socializing along the way. Not all
  members of a population will travel together.
• The humpbacks that pass the eastern shores of
  Australia, on their way to summer feeding grounds
  in Antarctica each year, stop off in the warm
  waters of Hervey Bay. The first to arrive there
  are groups of older juveniles, followed by mature
  males and then by mothers and calves (sometimes
  with escorts).

4
Whale Stalking...

• One of the most frequented spots for humpback
  whales is at protected Fagatele Bay on the island
  of Tutuila in American Samoa. Unfortunately there
  is no road access to Fagatele so the only way to
  view the whales is by charter boat.
• Humpback whales migrate to the protected waters
  of the Vava'u Group between June and October to
  give birth to their calves and to mate. The
  height of the season is from July to September.

• The protected Auau Channel and shallow warm
  waters off the west coast of Maui are undoubtedly
  the best place in Hawaii to watch whales.
• McGregor Point overlooking Maalaea Bay is
  excellent for spotting humpback whales. The best
  times are early morning and late evenings when
  between the months of November to April (some
  still around in late May).
• Humpback whales can occasionally be seen in the
  shallow waters of the Lomaiviti Group and around
  the islands off Taveuni in the Northern Islands
  between July and October.

5
Sing It Baby!
Pavrotti 1992

• Whale songs contain simple units of sound that
  together make phrases Phrases are linked to
  make themes, and finally a series of themes in
  a specific order creates a song.
• Songs may be emitted with sound intensities of
  100 to 110 decibels.
• These songs can carry far distances.
• Songs have been recorded not only during mating
  season but during spring, autumn and midsummer.
  (possibly disproving the theory that songs are a
  mate attracting device)

6

Just Give Me a Reason to Sing

• 1. Powerful acoustic display to attract
  possible mates
• 2. Spacing function among solo males
• 3. Establishing dominance rankings
• 4. Threat display during intrasexual competition

Probably a combination of possible functions
7
Uh... Could You Not

• Studies show that females will not usually
  approach a singer.
• Singers have been found to sing for longer
  periods of time toward the end of the season, and
  have the shortest songs when the females are in
  estrus (Aug-Sept).

8
Flirting
Shake What Your Mama Gave Ya

• A whale may slap the water with one of its
  pectoral flippers.
• Belly flipping. A whale may lie on its back and
  alternately slap the water with one fin at a
  time.
• Head up. A whale may raise the dorsal portion of
  its head horizontally to the surface, then sink
  back down underwater without traveling forward.
• Rolling corollaries of the animal include a
  raised fin or flukes lifted vertically, not
  horizontally
• Fighting and aggressive behaviors to compete for
  female.

Bonnie and Clyde 1994
9
Having The Sex

• Humpback whales can reach sexual maturity between
  4-10 years, or when males reach the length of 35
  feet (11.6 m) and females reach 40 feet (12 m).
• Humpback males have a fibro-elastic penis (lucky
  them), and copulation is said to be rapid.
• There are few actual observations of copulation
  in this species. The male and the female first
  swim in a line they then engage in rolling,
  flipping, and tail fluking. Next, both dive and
  then surface vertically, with bellies "in close
  contact." They emerge from the water to a point
  below their flippers. They then fall back onto
  the surface of the water together.
• Each female typically bears a calf every 2-3
  years (with exp due to infant mortality)

10
Preggers

• Pregnant females must feed on as much krill as
  possible to store blubber for their birthing
  cycle.
• Pregnant females travel with resting females.
• Groups of these females going to feed may cross
  paths with late pregnancy females going to give
  birth.
• Pregnant females stay for approximately six
  months in Antarctica, longer than the rest of the
  humpback whale population.

Pregnancies can last over twelve months
Humpback whales can have twins, but only a .39
chance
11
Live Birth
Popping Um Out

• Young humpback calves are born with their eyes
  open and with good hearing.
• Calves usually weigh approximately 680 kgs and
  are 13 to 15 feet.
• At birth calves have a coating of fine hair-like
  down which glimmers in the sun. Its usually
  replaced by the normal black and white
  pigmentation within a week.

Silky 1996
12
Feed Me

• Nursing begins almost immediately after birth
• When the calf wants to feed, the mothers nipples
  protrude and the calf latches on with its tongue
  and lower jaw.
• Calves feed on average 40 times a day, consuming
  around three gallons of milk per feeding.
• A calf will depend mostly on its mother for over
  twelve months, weaning begins when they reach the
  Antarctica to feed.

Newborn calf Sagan nursing with an aunt
13
Parental Responsibilities
He's YOUR Son

• Parental care of calves is left solely to the
  mother.
• A male escort, usually seen accompanying a mother
  and calf, is in fact unrelated on most accounts.
• Mothers will feed, protect and teach the calf
  migratory patterns and hunting techniques.

Phantom with her calf Raoul 1998
14
Move Out Damnit Leaving the Nest

• Most calves, if they are going to leave, leave
  during the second winter.
• One group with 107 calves were studied and only 6
  calves remained with their mothers for 2 years,
  none for 3.
• There has been documentation of some calves
  remaining with their mothers for life, usually
  the first born, mostly males.
• Juvenile humpbacks may socialize and associate
  with other conspecifics, but are seen alone
  significantly more often than adults are.
• Usually by 5 years (common age of sexual
  maturation), association patterns are
  indistinguishable from those of adults.

Timantha and her calf Elmo
15
Your Own Humpback

• Humpback Whale Adoption Project
• Choose a Adoptee

Midnight
Sparta
Cats Paw
Pepper
Cod
Istar
Salt
Reflection
4 a month
16
Habitat Use and Home Range

• Most observations are concentrated in areas close
  to the shore, or coast
• Because of this, our observational information is
  limited.
• Humpbacks migrate across great distances between
  the summer and winter months.
• Researchers and observers have reported
  re-sighting of specific individuals migrating
  back to the same feeding grounds (Chapham et al.
  1993).
• Humpbacks have been known to remain in certain
  breeding grounds from times ranging from a day up
  to weeks.
• However, this does not make the Humpback a
  territorial animal. There is a clear correlation
  that the time and location that the Humpback
  spend in a particular area is directly related to
  the abundance of the food source in that
  location.

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• the whales have been reported to migrate back for
  up to 10 years.

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Whitehead and Moore (1982) Glockner and Venus
(1983) Mattila and Clapham (1989) Females along
with their calves prefer using shallower waters,
or water nearer the coast to migrate

• This could be because the water is warmer
• Because they are trying to avoid predators
• Or because they just dont want to be bothered by
  males while they are spending time with their
  calves.
• It was also reported by Clapham and Mayo (1987)
  that it was mostly the females that had calves
  that were in these areas of water, and females
  without calves stuck with the group

19
HUMPBACK WHALE DIET AND FORAGING BEHAVIOR

• What they feed on
• How they feed
• Who feeds on them

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Humpbacks feed on a variety of food
HERRING CAPELIN MACKEREL SANDLANCE
A possible reason why these type of fish may be
consumed by the humpbacks could be because these
fish are normally found traveling in schools
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How the humpbacks feed
Humpbacks feed through a swallow-spit-swallow
technique. As we know, Humpbacks dont have
teeth. Instead, they have Baleen
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Baleen, which matures as the whale matures, is
made up of keratin which is the same material
that our finger nails and hair consists of
Segment taken from a humpback
Segment taken from a calf
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The humpback whale when approaching its food
source will open its mouth and swallow fish,
plankton, or krill, along with large quantities
of water. Through the use of its pleats, the
whale will then push or spit out all that it has
just swallowed through the baleen, leaving only
the food in its mouth.
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• There are a number of methods that humpback
  whales use to catch the fish they eat.
• It has been theorized that the methods used vary
  from each region
• ex. An observed method in the North Atlantic is
  Bubble Feeding yet this method is rarely
  observed in the North Pacific.

Lunge Feeding Basically lunging toward schools of
fish with their mouths wide open. Tail-
flicking Just below the surface, the whale swims
in a belly up position with its mouth open, then
flicks its tail up out of the water.
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BUBBLE FEEDING
28
Bubble Feeding

• The Humpbacks will swim underneath a school of
  fish.
• The behavior is done in synchrony
• From the blow holes, the whale releases a series
  of air bubbles
• Which rise to the surface in the form of dense
  clouds.
• How exactly these air bubbles affect the fish is
  not for sure. Some possibilities would include
• The fish try to hide inside the bubble to retreat
  from the whales
• The bubbles could confuse and disorient the fish
• Or maybe the bubbles frighten the fish
• Once the fish reach the surface, the Humpbacks
  lunge at the school and swallow as much as they
  can

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Once again, this can be observed from the surface
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The method and or behavior chosen by a particular
group of whales has been shown to correlate with
the type of fish they are after. ex. Baker and
Herman (1984) and Perry et al (1990) off the
cost of Alaska observed that the humpbacks
coordinated their behavior more when they were
chasing faster moving pray.
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Learning
34

• To truly observe behavior in terms of learning
  with Humpback whales is difficult to do.
• Clapham and Mayo (1987) observed young calves
  imitating their mothers feed by way of the Bubble
  Method.
• Weinrich, Schilling, and Belt (1992) observed
  calves learning or imitating a different method
  for feeding (Lobtailing).
• Cultural transmission

• More than any other type of whale, the Humpbacks
  have been observed to spend longer periods of
  dependence with their mother.
• Possibly why Females stick around longer
• Could be support or evidence for learning complex
  behaviors such as bubble feeding (which is not
  done by other balaenopterid whales.

35
Predation, Parasitism, and Causes of Mortality
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• The most frequently sighted predator to the
  humpback is the Killer Whale

Evidence of this can be see by the rake or teeth
marks
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• The data was not collected on whether or not the
  attacks were done by transient or resident
  dolphin.
• However it is likely that it was done by the
  transients because they are the ones known to
  feed more on mammals.
• How did they obtain this information?
• Daily observations in the Gulf of Maine (feeding
  grounds), and sixteen winters in parts of the
  West Indies have shown no observations of Killer
  Whale attacks on Humpback whales
• So where do these attack marks come from?
• Researchers believe that these attacks occur
  during the migration period from where the
  humpbacks are mating and or giving birth to where
  they are feeding

39
Parasitism

• Although it is less common in the humpbacks than
  any other type of whale, Humpbacks have still be
  known to carry Whale lice.
• While lice such as Cyamids can be found on areas
  of the whale that dont receive too much contact.
  
• Considering the size ratio of the lice to the
  whale, it is likely to conclude that the lice do
  not cause much harm to the overall health and
  well being of the whale.

40
Cyamid
Whale Lice
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Barnacles

• Whale can often be observes displaying numerous
  amount of barnacles.
• Not considered to be parasites because its not
  the whale that its eat or picking at
• Barnacles haven been theorized to aid males in
  intrasexual competition. (Pierotti et al 1985)
• Because of its obtrusiveness, they have been
  used as weapons against other males.

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FROM DARCI JOHN MARIO