My co-authors and I are pleased to inform you that our paper "Comparing depth and seabed terrain preferences of individually identified humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), with and without calf, off Maui, Hawaii" has just appeared in the early on-line view of Marine Mammal Science.  A full citation and abstract appear below.  If you would like a pdf copy of this work, please email me at pack@hawaii.edu.  Hoping you are all enjoying the spring season and that your year has been filled with good health, joy and peace.

Best regards,

Adam

We studied individual female humpback whales over 12 years in Maui, Hawaii so that we could investigate what water depth and seabed terrain type they preferred when they had a calf versus when they had no calf.  At each sighting, we photographed the female’s unique tail fluke pattern and determined her water depth and whether she was associated with rugged or flat seabed terrain.  We found that 35 females who were sighted with a calf and without a calf in different years preferred significantly shallower water when they had a calf, but they had no preference for particular seabed terrain.  The current findings, when taken together with our most recent study in the same area (e.g. Pack et al. 2017) reinforce the importance of both shallow water and deeper water habitats to female humpback whales off Maui depending on their reproductive condition as well as on the age and size of their calves.

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