Panacetacea
  • Panacetacea
  • Who we are
    • Research Team
    • Students
    • Colleagues
    • Cooperation
    • Gallery
  • Blog
    • Humpback Whales Summer 2019
    • Humpback Whales Summer 2018
    • Humpback Whale Winter 2018
    • Humpback Whales 2017
    • Humpback Blog 2015
    • Humpback Blog 2014
    • BlogBocasDolphin 2014
    • Summer 2013 Blog
    • Summer 2012Blog
  • Programs
    • Monitoring Program >
      • Humpback Whale Project
      • Dolphins of Bocas del Toro Project
      • Dolphins of Changuinola & Gandoca Project
      • Dolphins of Gulf of Chiriqui Project
      • Cetaceans of Iguana Island Project
      • Central American Marine Biodiversity Acoustic Surveillance Network
      • Stranding and Rescue Network
    • Education and Outreach Program >
      • Education >
        • Internships
      • Outreach
    • Ocean Science Program >
      • Whale-Watching
      • Bocas Study Case
      • Research Permits and Whale-Watching Licenses
  • Donors & Grants
  • How to help
  • Documents
    • Peer Reviewed Publications
    • Documents for the Public
  • News
  • Store
  • Contact us

Fighting whales!

9/14/2013

0 Comments

 
One of my favorite types of humpback whale groups to see in the breeding area are the competitive groups (also called surface active groups, or rowdy groups). Typically these groups have one female, and the rest are males who are competing to mate with the female. This year we have seen MANY competitive groups, usually at least one every day. Most have been around 6-8 whales, but we have also had some larger groups, the largest was just a few days ago with 15 whales!
Picture
A scrum of whales
The whales get very aggressive with each other, and often you see blood on their
bodies. Although very rare, there have been reported cases of whales dying
during these aggressive encounters.
Picture
Bloody dorsal fin
Picture
Blood on the leading edge of the dorsal fin
Picture
Blood on the tubercles (bumps on the head) of the whale
Picture
Whale lunging out of the water with bloody tubercles
These sightings always have lots of action, and the whales surface more often than other group types, making them easier to follow.

We are in our last days of field work. It will be hard to leave as the whales are still plentiful and we are collecting lots of good data. Look for our final few posts in the next week.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Panacetacea

    Archives

    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Panacetacea
  • Who we are
    • Research Team
    • Students
    • Colleagues
    • Cooperation
    • Gallery
  • Blog
    • Humpback Whales Summer 2019
    • Humpback Whales Summer 2018
    • Humpback Whale Winter 2018
    • Humpback Whales 2017
    • Humpback Blog 2015
    • Humpback Blog 2014
    • BlogBocasDolphin 2014
    • Summer 2013 Blog
    • Summer 2012Blog
  • Programs
    • Monitoring Program >
      • Humpback Whale Project
      • Dolphins of Bocas del Toro Project
      • Dolphins of Changuinola & Gandoca Project
      • Dolphins of Gulf of Chiriqui Project
      • Cetaceans of Iguana Island Project
      • Central American Marine Biodiversity Acoustic Surveillance Network
      • Stranding and Rescue Network
    • Education and Outreach Program >
      • Education >
        • Internships
      • Outreach
    • Ocean Science Program >
      • Whale-Watching
      • Bocas Study Case
      • Research Permits and Whale-Watching Licenses
  • Donors & Grants
  • How to help
  • Documents
    • Peer Reviewed Publications
    • Documents for the Public
  • News
  • Store
  • Contact us