Rare footage of a sperm whale giving birth has offered scientists a window into the behaviour of these large, elusive mammals.
The video, taken in 2023, shows female whales from two family lines working together to support the labour during critical moments and to lift the newborn calf above the water. It’s a level of co-ordination that is extremely uncommon in the animal kingdom, especially outside of primates such as monkeys and humans.
“The group quite literally helps bring the calf into the world,” said Oregon State University behavioural ecologist Mauricio Cantor. He had no role in the new research.
Scientists want to know how whales co-operate and socialise in the wild, but it’s tough to study this in animals that spend most of their time underwater.
There are just a handful of sperm whale birth records from the past 60 years, and all are anecdotal accounts or from whaling boats.
Several years ago, researchers studying whale communication on a boat off the Caribbean island of Dominica noticed something odd. Eleven whales – most of them female – surfaced, their heads facing one another, and started thrashing and diving above and below the water. The scientists immediately took out drones and microphones to capture the event.
The full delivery took about 30 minutes. For hours afterwards, pairs of whales held the baby above the water until it was able to swim.
“This was just really a special event,” said study co-author David Gruber, of the Cetacean Translation Initiative, or Project CETI.
After observing the birth, the scientists created software to analyse exactly what was going on. They chronicled the sights and sounds in two studies published on Thursday in the journals Scientific Reports and Science.
What struck the researchers was how many mother, sister and daughter whales united to support the calf, even ones that weren’t related.
Sperm whales live in close-knit, female-led societies, and the new observations show how those dynamics persist in the animals’ most significant and vulnerable moments.
“It’s amazing to think about how, when faced with this impossible challenge, these animals come together to succeed,” said study co-author Shane Gero, of Project CETI.
Scientists also noticed that the whales made different sounds during key moments of the birth, including slower, longer sets of clicks. These noises could have aided with communication, helping the animals sync up for the birthing effort.
The findings unearth a trove of questions. How did the group of whales form in the first place? How did they know to join?
It’s unclear when scientists might figure out the answers, especially since video footage is scarce and difficult to obtain. But the new findings can at least partially clue us into the whales’ hidden conversations.
“I think it’s just exciting to think about the social lives of these animals,” said biologist Susan Parks, of Syracuse University, who wasn’t involved with the new studies.
AP
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