Dear colleagues, We are pleased to announce the publication of the following article: Craig, A. S., Herman, L. M., Pack, A. A. & Waterman, J. O. (2014). Habitat segregation by female humpback whales in Hawaiian waters: avoidance of males? Behaviour, 151: 613-631. http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/1568539x-00... Summary Humpback whales congregate annually in low-latitude winter breeding and calving grounds. While on these grounds, females with a dependent calf ('maternal females') are sometimes closely attended by one or more male escorts. Using data collected from a shore-based observation platform in the Hawaiian Islands, we tested the hypothesis that the spatial distribution of maternal females is driven primarily by avoidance of males. As predicted, we found that (1) pods containing a calf occurred in significantly shallower water than pods that did not contain a calf, (2) unescorted maternal females occurred in significantly shallower water than escorted maternal females, (3) the number of males escorting a female decreased significantly with decreasing water depth, and (4) the swimming speed of maternal females increased as a function of male presence, with escorted females travelling significantly more rapidly than unescorted females and a significant positive correlation between swimming speed and number of escorts. We suggest that maternal females incur increased energetic costs when escorted by males and consequently position themselves in shallow waters to reduce the likelihood of unwanted male attention. If you are interested but can't access this paper online, please email me (al.craig@napier.ac.uk<mailto:al.craig@napier.ac.uk>) for a pdf reprint. Best wishes, Alison. ================================================================= Dr Alison S. Craig, School of Life, Sport and Social Sciences Edinburgh Napier University Sighthill Campus Sighthill Court Edinburgh EH11 4BN Scotland UK Tel: +44(0)131 455 2245 Edinburgh Napier University offers industry informed courses and 92.3% of our graduates are in work or further study within six months of leaving. With over 17,000 students from over 110 countries, we are an international university and are also proud to be the largest UK provider of higher education in Hong Kong. In 2014, we are celebrating 50 years since we opened our doors as Napier Technical College. This message and its attachment(s) are intended for the addressee(s) only and should not be read, copied, disclosed, forwarded or relied upon by any person other than the intended addressee(s) without the permission of the sender. If you are not the intended addressee you must not take any action based on this message and its attachment(s) nor must you copy or show them to anyone. Please respond to the sender and ensure that this message and its attachment(s) are deleted. It is your responsibility to ensure that this message and its attachment(s) are scanned for viruses or other defects. Edinburgh Napier University does not accept liability for any loss or damage which may result from this message or its attachment(s), or for errors or omissions arising after it was sent. Email is not a secure medium. Emails entering Edinburgh Napier University's system are subject to routine monitoring and filtering by Edinburgh Napier University. Edinburgh Napier University is a registered Scottish charity. Registration number SC018373