Population Characteristics of Individually Identified Humpback Whales in the Cental and Eastern North Pacific: A Summary and Critique - Anjanette Perry*, C. Scott Baker*
- Laboratory of Genetics, National Cancer Institute-Frederick Cancer Research Facility, Building 560, Room 21-105, Frederick, Maryland 21701-1013, USA
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- *Present address: Dept. Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
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- Louis M. Herman
- Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory, University of Hawaii, 1129 Ala Moana Boulevard, Honolulu, Hawaii 96814, USA
Methods developed to obtain and record photographs of tail flukes and accompanying sighting data for humpback whales are described. Published descriptions of the migratory movement, abundance, reproductive histories and social organization of individually identified humpback whales based on our long term studies in Hawaii and southeastern Alaska and other studies in the eastern and and central North Pacific are reviewed. Biases and limitations associated with the collection and anlysis of photographic data are discussed and additional methods than can be useful in describing population parameters for humpback whales and other cetacean species are suggested. - Humpback whales in the North Pacific, like those in the North Atlantic, appear to form geographically isolated feeding herds which intermingle on one or more wintering grounds. Mark recapture analyses of the resighting data suggest a seasonal population of 327-421 in the southeastern Alaska feeding region, and 1113 to 1701 on the Hawaiian wintering grounds. In Hawaii, multiple sightings of 18 sexually mature females provided an estimated calving rate (calves/female/year) of 0.58, but this value may be inflated by sighting biases. In southeastern Alaska multiple sightings of 41 mature females provided an estimated calving rate of 0.37, which we believe is a better estimate of current reproductive rates. On the Hawaiian wintering ground, social organization can be described as a polygynous mating system involving male-male competition for mature females. In southeastern Alaska, the foraging strategies of humpback whales appear to be noncompetitive and, on occasion, cooperative.
- Perry, A., Baker, C. S., Herman, L. M. (1990). Population characteristics of individually identified humpback whales in the central and eastern North Pacific: A summary and critique. In G. P. Donovan (Ed.) Reports of the International Whaling Commission (Special Issue 12: Photo Identifcation) 307-317
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