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  • Nine humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) of ten that were engaged in a competitive group heat run centered around the dark female in the foreground of this photograph.
    nine-humpback-whales-competitive-gro...tif
  • Pictured here are 13 whales that were in a 14-whale competitive group heat run. The whales were spread out over a large area, moving constantly, not really engaging in much interesting behavior beyond general jockeying for position.
    humpack-whale-competitive-group-heat...tif
  • Part of an energetic competitive group heat run of humpback whales, with one pictured here blowing a trail of bubbles. Photographed in Vava’u, Tonga.
    humpback-whale-competitive-group-hea...tif
  • A scene from an epic heat run centering upon a female with calf. We watched this develop from just mom, calf, escort into a heat run with at least seven adults. The males were highly competitive, engaging in lots of spectacular surface displays. Here, one of the males is rocketing out of the water next to a rival male.
    humpback-whale-males-competitive-gro...tif
  • This is a male humpback whale that was the primary escort in a small competitive group heat run of four whales. The male is blowing bubbles, likely intended to be a display of aggression and dominance. The dark female dark is just visible at the bottom of the frame. The male had a small portion of his penis protruding.
    humpback-whale-male-bubbles-201708-0...tif
  • This is the primary or dominant escort in a humpback whale competitive group, also known as a heat run. Male whales are competing for the female whale, which is the one with a long white slash mark on her torso, and a smaller one closer to her face. This behavior of blowing a massive trail of bubbles requires a substantial supply of air. The respiratory and digestive tracts of most animals, including humpback whales, are not connected. It is therefore not clear how humpback whales execute this behavior. After observing this heat run for an extended period of time, I was able to watch the entire sequence from beginning to end three times, and thus to confirm that the dominant whale did not gulp air at the surface. It inflated its throat pouch with air when it was submerged. This suggests that there is a mechanism by which a humpback whale can temporarily connect its respiratory tract to its digestive tract, thus shunting air from its lungs to its throat. This sequence thus provides photographic support for just such an anatomical link, as first proposed in a 2007 paper in The Anatomical Record by Reidenberg and Laitman.
    humpback-whale-bubble-blowing-sequen...tif
  • This is the primary or dominant escort in a humpback whale competitive group, also known as a heat run. Male whales are competing for the female whale, which is the one with a long white slash mark on her torso, and a smaller one closer to her face. This behavior of blowing a massive trail of bubbles requires a substantial supply of air. The respiratory and digestive tracts of most animals, including humpback whales, are not connected. It is therefore not clear how humpback whales execute this behavior. After observing this heat run for an extended period of time, I was able to watch the entire sequence from beginning to end three times, and thus to confirm that the dominant whale did not gulp air at the surface. It inflated its throat pouch with air when it was submerged. This suggests that there is a mechanism by which a humpback whale can temporarily connect its respiratory tract to its digestive tract, thus shunting air from its lungs to its throat. This sequence thus provides photographic support for just such an anatomical link, as first proposed in a 2007 paper in The Anatomical Record by Reidenberg and Laitman.
    humpback-whale-bubble-blowing-sequen...tif
  • A competitive heat run comprising seven humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), with six males vying for the favor of a female whale, the dark individual visible behind the foremost whale. Photographed in Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga.
    humpback-whale-heat-run-tonga-megapt...tif
  • Four of eight whales clustered on sandy bottom at about 30m depth, going around in circles. The gathering appeared to be a competitive group centered upon the whale on the sand at the lower left of this image. That whale remained relatively stationary on the sand while the others circled around.
    four-humpback-whales-deep-sandy-bott...tif
  • Male humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) with white pectoral fins blowing a dramatic trail of bubbles during a frenetic competitive group heat run. This male was one of the two lead escorts in pursuit of the female that was the center of attention of this heat run. The abundance of scratches and scars on this male’s body bears testimony to his vigor and aggression.
    humpback-whale-white-pectoral-fins-b...tif
  • This is the primary escort in a humpback whale competitive group heat run. The whale is executing a body block of another male in pursuit by extending his pectoral fins and pulling up suddenly in a vertical position, much like an airplane stalling mid-flight. Though this is a common tactic, it is difficult to photograph, as it happens suddenly and the action pauses for only a few moments.
    humpback-whale-escort-body-block-ton...tif
  • This is the female humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that was the center of an extended, energetic competitive group heat run. There were two large males that were the main contenders, including one particularly aggressive male that had white pectoral fins, and a number of other males that cycled in and out of the intense activity. The barnacles on the female humpback’s pectoral fin are clearly visible.
    humpback-whale-female-pectoral-fin-b...tif
  • Breaching humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae), one of six whales involved in a competitive group heat run
    humpback-whale-breaching-heat-run-to...tif
  • A heat run of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) comprising five adult whales, four males and a female. The males are in competition for the attention of the female, which is the whale with lots of white on her body, on the right side of the photo. Photographed in Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga.
    five-humpback-whales-heat-run-tonga-...tif
  • Six humpback whales (Megaptera novaeanglliae) engaged in a competitive group heat run, with one blowing bubbles.
    humpback-whale-competitive-group-hea...tif
  • This is a female humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) extending her pectoral flukes into the air to slap the water for attention. She was resting with a male humpback, seemingly paired up. She breached abruptly and repeatedly, as well as slapping the water with her pectoral fins and fluke. This attracted five other males to her, resulting in an energetic heat run, forcing the male that was originally with her to compete with other males.
    humpback-whale-female-pectoral-fins-...tif
  • Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) that was involved in a weven-whale heat run breaching. The heat run merged with three additional whales, then split again to six or seven whales
    breaching-humpback-whale-viewed-from...tif
  • Energetic heat run comprising eight humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). The whales spent a considerable amount of time at the surface, splashing and creating a commotion.
    humpback-whale-heat-run-megaptera-no...tif
  • This is part of competitive heat run with at least 14 humpback whales, far, far out in the open ocean. The seas were rough, and whales spread out over a large area. Pictured here is one whale down deep in the process of inflating his throat. This is often a precursor to blowing a stream of bubbles as a dominance display. In this instance, however, this whale was not the primary escort, and it eventually deflated its throat instead of blowing bubbles. Why it inflated and then deflated is not clear.
    humpback-whale-throat-inflated-durin...tif
  • Rear view of an adult female humpback whale with her calf swimming above her head. This female and calf were the center of attention during a competitive group heat run that took place during a torrential downpour. There were at least three adult males accompanying this female and calf. The primary escort, partially visible in the lower left corner, had white pectoral fins, as did the calf. Note the rake marks along the trailing edge of the female’s fluke, scars left by predators such as orcas or false killer whales.
    humpback-whale-female-calf-rear-view...tif
  • Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae australis) surfacing for air on a very clear day, with uninhabitated volcanic Late (prononced lah-teh, like the coffee) Island visible in the background. The island rises 1500 m from the sea floor, with its conical summit reaching 540m above sea level. This whale was part of an active heat run that started with three whales, increasing to six by the time we left the competitive group.
    humpback-whale-surfacing-volcanic-la...tif
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