Whales

Whale - Adolescent

Whales experience adolescence between their weaning and the time of their reaching sexual maturity. The actual ages at which these stages are achieved depend very much on the species in question. Baleen whales are weaned between 8 and 10 months of age, while toothed whales depend on mother’s milk for up to 3 years. Being weaned means that these calves are no longer reliant on their mother’s nutrient-rich milk. They feed solely on solid foods, such as squid, crustaceans, zooplankton and phytoplankton.

Once weaned, the calf will begin to venture away from the protective presence of its mother. Like humans, the young one will start to associate with its peers, whales of the same age and gender. Male juveniles will eventually form bachelor pods and break away from the pod in which they were raised permanently. These bulls will then live a fairly solitary existence, searching for sexually mature cows with whom to mate. Some bulls will stay with his mate and assist in protecting her and their calf. Other species dictate that he will return to his bachelor pod and fulfil no paternal duties in the raising of the offspring.

Young females will also explore their independence, but are likely to return to the matriarchal pod or her mother (in the case of a family pod consisting only of the mother, calf and bull). Where the calf has been raised in a matriarchal pod, she will likely stick with that pod for her entire lifetime, returning after each mating. If the young cow was raised in a family pod, she will stay in this arrangement until she finds a suitable mate. After a brief courtship, they will mate. Thereafter, she and the bull will continue together, raising and caring for the calf together. However, they do not mate for life, so they may decide to pursue different mates in the following mating season.

Whales reach sexual maturity anywhere between the ages of 6 and 13 years. It is at this time that they will begin to search for a mate with whom to copulate. From this age until their death, they are considered to be adults.