Alexander Forrest Captures First Drone Footage of Humpback Whale Birth off New South Wales on July 28
Updated
Updated · Livescience.com · Aug 5
Alexander Forrest Captures First Drone Footage of Humpback Whale Birth off New South Wales on July 28
3 articles · Updated · Livescience.com · Aug 5
Summary
A July 28 drone flight off northern New South Wales captured what researchers believe is the first aerial recording of a humpback whale giving birth in the ocean.
Alexander Forrest spotted a female moving unusually slowly in shallow water along the annual “humpback highway,” then filmed a bright red blood cloud before a gray calf emerged and surfaced for its first breath.
ORRCA said only three humpback whale births have previously been published, making the footage a rare record of a poorly observed event.
Forrest alerted ORRCA after the birth, and its drone operators spent hours filming the calf’s first dives, the mother’s care, and other humpbacks approaching the pair.
Researchers called the footage an extraordinary addition to understanding humpback reproduction and maternal behavior in the species’ early life stages.