New York- Rare images of a sperm whale giving birth have offered scientists a window into the behavior of these large, elusive whales. mammals.
The video, recorded in 2023, shows whales females from two family lines working together to support birth at critical times and lift the newborn calf above the water. It is a very rare level of coordination in the animal kingdom, especially outside of primates like monkeys and humans.
“The group literally helps bring the calf into the world,” says Mauricio Cantor, a behavioral ecologist at the Oregon State Universityin an email. Cantor was not involved in the new investigation.
Scientists want to know how whales cooperate and socialize in the wild, but it is difficult to study in animals that spend most of their time underwater. There are only a handful of records of sperm whale births from the last 60 years, and they are all anecdotal or from whaling ships.
Several years ago, researchers were studying whale communication on a boat off the Caribbean island of Dominica when they noticed something strange. Eleven whales – most of them female – surfaced, heads facing each other, and began to stir and dive above and below the water. Scientists immediately took out drones and microphones to capture the event.
The entire birth lasted about 30 minutes. For hours, pairs of whales held the baby above the water until it could swim.
“It was a very special event,” said David Gruber, a co-author of the study and a member of the Cetacean Translation Initiative (CETI).
After observing the birth, scientists created a computer program to analyze exactly what was happening. ANDTwo studies published on Thursday in the journals Scientific Reports and Science collect the images and sounds.
What surprised researchers was how many mother, sister and daughter whales came together to support the new calf, even those who were not related. Sperm whales live in close-knit, female-led societies, and the new observations show how that dynamic persists in the animals’ most significant and vulnerable moments.
“It’s amazing to think about how, faced with this impossible challenge, these animals come together to get ahead,” says Shane Gero, co-author of the study and also of the CETI Project.
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The scientists also observed that the whales made different sounds during key moments of birth.including series of slower, longer clicks. These noises could have contributed to communication, helping the animals synchronize for birth.
The findings reveal endless questions. How was the group of whales formed? How did you know to join?
It’s unclear when scientists will be able to figure out the answers, especially when video recordings are scarce and so hard to come by. But the new findings may give us at least a partial clue about the whales’ hidden conversations.
“I think it’s exciting to think about the social life of these animals,” says biologist Susan Parks, of the Syracuse Universitywho was not involved in the new studies.