VOCALIZATION AND COORDINATED FEEDING
BEHAVIOR OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE
IN SOUTHEASTERN ALASKACYNTHIA G. D'VINCENT, * RUSSELL M. NILSON*AND RICHARD E. HANNA**ABSTRACT

Coordinated feeding behavior of the humpback whale (Megapteranovaeangliae) was observed over a 3-day period in southeastern Alaska.
Using distinctive pigmentation markings on the flipper, we verified thateach whale maintained a constant physical orientation and spatial relationship within the group during vertical lunge-feeding maneuvers. A uniform'vocalization, with a fundamental frequency of approximately 500 Hz, wasclosely associated with the initiation of the cooperative feeding behavior. Afinal, linearly ascending vocalization preceded simultaneous surfacing in
the vertical lunge-feeding maneuver.

INTRODUCTION

At the southwest tip of Admiralty Island in southeastern Alaska (57°27'N,133°51 'W) an 80-m shoal separates two deep bodies of water, Chatham Strait
and Frederick Sound. The strong upwelling currents created by this shoaling
results in productive surface layer due to the increased nutrient supply.
In this productive area we observed eight humpback whales (Megapteranovaeangliae) feeding on euphausiid crustaceans (Euphausia pacifica) andherring (Clupea harengus) in a coordinated manner over a three-day period.
When first sighted, on 9 August 1983, several members of the POD were
swimming at the surface, with mouths agape and ventral pleats extended
engaged in lateral lunge feeding (Jurasz and Jurasz, 1979; Watkins andShevill, 1979; Hain et al., 1982). We followed the pod for over an hour tophotograph the ventral surface of their flukes for individual identification
purposes (Katona et al., 1979). The whales remained in a group during thisperiod, independently lateral lunge-feeding on euphausiids with no apparent
synchronization or cooperation within the pod. Recordings of vocalizations
were made with a Nakamichi 681 ZX tape recorder, with an Ithaco 257AM
preamplifier and a Clevite CH-l 7U hydrophone with a combined frequency
response ±3 decibles (db) from 20 hertz (Hz) to 22 kilohertz (kHz). Aside* Ocean Research Under Sail, Inc., P.O. Box 1167, Monterey, CA 93942** Department of Zoology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92182
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 36, 1985, 41-47

42D'VINCENT, NILSON AND HANNA

from "grunts", very little vocalization was evident while the whales were surface swimming or lateral lunge-feeding. The limited vocalizations of
humpback whales on feeding grounds have been reported by other researchers(Perkins and Whitehead, 1977; Thompson et al., 1977).
A different feeding strategy was then initiated by the pod; all of thewhales submerged, a single ring of bubbles 20-m in diameter appeared on thesurface, and seven of the eight whales surfaced simultaneously within the ringof bubbles in a vertical lunge-feeding manner. The bubbles continued toemerge for about 15 s, until the remaining member of the pod surfaced after
apparently completing the bubble "net." Whether the bubble net was used toconcentrate the prey or simply enclose naturally occurring concentrations ofprey is uncertain; however, curtains of bubbles can form an effective barrier
to schooling fish (Bates and VanDerwalder, 1964).
After about 1 h of coordinated feeding on euphausiids, the whales began
to feed on a large school of herring (approximately 200-m in diameter) which
had moved into the area. The whales continued to utilize the vertical lungefeeding strategy, but blowing a bubble net was not part of the repertoire.
Humpback whales have been observed employing bubble nets for herring,and J urasz and J urasz ( 1979) reported that the net diameter is larger thanthat used for euphausiids.
The duration between surfacings varied from 5 to 15 m, and feedingbouts lasted up to 6 h. Over the 3-day observation period, feeding was interspersed with apparent resting periods during which time no surface feeding
was observed.
The synchronized feeding on euphausiids within the bubble net and on
herring without a bubble net seemed to be cooperative and structured. In the130 vertical lunge-feeding maneuvers which we recorded with still and motion picture cameras, the feeding group of humpback whales always surfaced
simultaneously in an identical formation (Fig. 1). By using distinctive pigmentation markings on the pectoral fins, we were able to verify that each whale
maintained a constant physical orientation and spatial relationship within thegroup during vertical lunge-feeding maneuvers (Figs 2 and 3).
We recorded a uniform vocalization (Fig. 4) when the humpback whales
initiated their cooperative vertical lunge-feeding behavior. The vocalization,
heard only while the entire group was submerged, was 45 to 58 s in duration
and began about 90 s prior to their surfacing. These phonations consisted ofa distinct series of narrow bandwidth tones which were mostly constant in
amplitude and slightly ascending and modulated in frequency. The vocalization ended with a drop and then upward sweep in frequency. The fundamental frequency was approximately 500 Hz, with multiple associated harmonics
perceptible until they disappeared in the background noise above 8 kHz. The
drop reached 400 Hz with an upward sweep to 800 Hz. These tonal segments
were each 3 long. After this initial series of tonal segments, and an 11- to 14pause, a final vocalization of about 6 preceded the vertical lunge-feeding
Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 36, 1985

FEEDING BEHAVIOR OF THE HUMPBACK WHALE

43

maneuver. This last vocalization differed from the previous tonal segments inthat it ascended linearly from 450 Hz to 600 Hz. In one instance the final
vocalization was omitted and the whales surfaced without an devious groupstructure.

Fig. 1. The physical orientation of the group of eight humpback whales (Megapteranovaeangliae) feeding on herring. Whales #1 and #2 maintained a vertical
position throughout the lunge-feed, with Whale #1 rising higher than #2.
Whale #1 was the largest of the group. (Illustration by Robert]. Western.)

Sci. Rep. Whales Res. Inst.,
No. 36, 1985

44

D VI
NCENT,NILSO NANDH ANNAF
ig.2.Thegrnupofeighthumpbac
kwha
leslunge‑fe
edi
ng,9August,1983.

Fi
g.3.Thegroupofei
ghthumpba
ckwh
aleslunge‑feeding,11August,1983.

Sci.Re
p.Wh
a
l
目， Re
s.I
nst.
,
No.3
6,1985

45

FEEDINGBEHAVIOROFTHEHUMPBACKWHALE

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No.36,1985

46DVINCENT,NILSONANDHANNAApparent cooperativ
efeedingbehav
iorsassociatedwithvocalizations
havebeenr
eportedforkillerwhales(Orcinus0
町 a)preyingons
choolingfish(Steineretal.
,1979).JuraszandJurasz(1979)observedapparentc
ooperativ
efeedingi
nhumpbackw
halesinwhichbreathi
ngandsur
faci
n
gwerec
oor
di
‑
nat
e
d.Theyals
orecordedauniformv
ocalizatio
nduringf
ee
di
ngb
e
hav
ior
s
mvolvmgmorethanonew
hale,butonlywhenthepreyspecieswasherrmg.
Thisvocalizationbeganwitha buzzingp
att
er
n whichwasnotp
resentinourr
ecor
dings.Annualchangesi
nhumpbackwhalev
ocalizationsonthebreeding
groundshavebeendemonstrated(WinnandWinn,1978;Winnetal.
,1981)
,
andv
o
caliz
ati
on
sont
hefeedinggroundsmayalsovaryfromyeartoye
ar.
Ouro
bser
v
a
tion
softh
ehumpbackwhalefeedingbehaviorc
loselycorrobo
r
atet
hos
eofo
ther
sQuraszandJurasz,1979; WatkinsandSchev
ill,1979;
Hainetal.
,1982),butwedocumentf
orthefirsttimethespatialorientationofi
ndiv
idua
lwhalesanddemonstratet
hecooper
ativ
enatu
r
eoft
hefeedingbehav
ior
二田

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Weg
ratefullyacknowledgeAlGiddingsofOceanImages,Inc.fo
rprov
iding
16m mfilmfootageofthisfeedingbehaviorforourrev
iew,andf
orprovidin
gthetimeandequipmentn
ecessaryforitsanalysis.WekindlythankC.
MalmeandP.M
ile
sofB
ol
tBeranekandNewmanforthesonographa
nal
ys
isoft
hea
cou
sti
cr
ecor
din
gs.Fortherev
iewofthi
smanuscriptandt
heirusefulcr
iticismwethankD.R
ice,A.Wolman,A.B
aldr
idg
eandD.Withrow.
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FEEDINGBEHAVIOROFTHEHUMPBACKWHALE

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