Although the humpback whales form themselves into a group of several dozen,
during their journey for feeding and breeding, they still behave as individua1s
or in pods of about two to four. Mother and child relation continues at
least 10 to 12 months after birth, which probably is the most stable social
feature of the humpback
Whales.as a unit.
With the exception of the pairs of mother and child, they act as pairs only
for several
hours or several days even during the breeding period. At the breeding area,
they stop feeding activities and concentrate on breeding activities such
as making advances, mating and delivering. Male whales turn very offensive
in a struggle to win female partners to mate with. Such groups of male whales
struggling to win their female whales are called mating pods. The female
whales with calves are accompanied by male whales called escorts who, while
protecting the mothers and calves from foreign enemies, seek a good chance
for mating with the mother whales. |
