Whales of the Silver Bank - Rowdy Groups

A rowdy group or competitive group is when whales, typically males, compete for the position next to the female in estrous. Their whole purpose is to displace the current escort to the female, plying for that position in any way possible. This is what their entire season boils down to, securing their position next to a female and protecting that position from any challenging whale or whales in the area. If a challenger moves into the area, the escort will display surface postures to warn off all competitors and competitors will display surface postures to scare off escorts. A rowdy group can contain as few as three whales or as many as fifteen or more in a single session. They can last from a few minutes to hours at bursts of speed of up to twelve to thirteen knots at a time.

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