Mother knows best: occurrence and associations of resighted humpback whales suggest maternally derived fidelity to a Southern Hemisphere coastal feeding ground

PloS One
Jaco BarendseCristina Pomilla

Abstract

Site fidelity is common among migratory cetaceans, including humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). In the Northern Hemisphere it has been found that fidelity to humpback whale feeding grounds is transferred maternally but this has never been shown for the species in the Southern Hemisphere. We examined this in a unique feeding area off west South Africa using resighting data of 68 individually identified humpback whales by means of photographic (tail flukes and dorsal fins) and/or molecular methods (microsatellite genotyping) over an 18 year span. We found short-term association patterns and recurrent visits typical of other feeding grounds. Males and females had different seasonality of attendance. Significant female-dominated presence corresponded to timing of an expected influx of females on their southward migration from the breeding ground: firstly non-nursing (possibly pregnant) females in mid-spring, and mothers and calves in mid-to late summer. The potential benefit of this mid-latitude feeding area for females is illustrated by a record of a cow with known age of at least 23 years that produced calves in three consecutive years, each of which survived to at least six months of age: the first record of successful po...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 16, 2019·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Luke RendellJanet Mann
Jan 21, 2016·PloS One·Rachel CartwrightLila Marcial-Hernandez
Jul 2, 2019·Marine Environmental Research·Alison DruskatSusan M Bengtson Nash
Aug 24, 2021·General and Comparative Endocrinology·Greta Dalle LucheSusan Bengtson Nash

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
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genotyping
biopsies

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CorelDRAW®
SOCPROG
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SOGPROG
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