DO HUMPBACK WHALES EXHIBIT LATERALIZED BEHAVIOR

Lateralized behaviour has been documented in non-human species, althou gh many observers believe that it occurs at the individual rather than the population level. Its occurrence in humpback whales, Megaptera no vaeangliae, in Massachusetts Bay was investigated by examining active behaviour types in which preference could be given to one direction or side. These included head breaching (direction of spin), flippering ( right or left) and tail breaching (direction of movement). In addition , persistent abrasions on the right or left jaw resulting from turns t o one side during bottom feeding were noted. Of 75 individuals with ja w abrasions, 60 (80%) showed abrasions on only the right jaw, while 15 (20%) had abrasions on only the left. No whales had abrasions on both jaws. Location of abrasions was consistent in all resighted individua ls for up to 12 years. Two of the three active behaviour types were no t strongly lateralized: directional bias was seen in only five of 21 b outs (23.8%) of breaching, and in three of 11 bouts (27.3%) of tail br eaching. However, 22 of 34 bouts (64.7%) of flippering showed a bias t owards one direction (generally the right). Furthermore, direction of bias in all behaviour types was individually consistent between bouts and was strongly correlated with abrasions on the corresponding jaw (P =0.0032). The sex ratio of individuals with jaw abrasions, and of thos e showing directional bias in active behaviour, did not differ signifi cantly from that of the overall population. Overall, these data sugges t that humpback whales exhibit some behavioural asymmetries, at least one of which is at the population level. This result suggests asymmetr y of function in motor or somatosensory representations, although too little is known about the brain of this species to permit definitive c onclusions. (C) 1995 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour