Early Experience in Habitat Choice by Humpback Whales (Megaptera novaeangliae)

The importance of early experience and maternal influence on the return of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to traditional feeding grounds has been documented through individual return rates and population genetics. Studies to date, however, have concentrated on large-scale geographic regions (i.e., Gulf of Maine) and have not compared returns to specific sites in these traditional feeding grounds. Between 1982 and 1990, I sighted 93 humpback mother-offspring pairs in which the calf was resighted after weaning. Observations took place at two sites in the southern Gulf of Maine: Stellwagen Bank and Jeffreys Ledge. Return rate to each area was significantly higher if the whale was originally sighted there as a calf (79.4% versus 50.0% on Stellwagen Bank; 71.7% versus 38.8% on Jeffreys Ledge), and no difference was found between male and female offspring. Results indicated that early experience was important in a humpback whale's subsequent choice of local habitat and regional feeding area.