In Australia, a female humpback whale stayed with her dead calf
Near Australia’s Gold Coast, researchers recorded a female humpback whale that remained beside a stillborn calf on the seafloor. As CBS News World reports, the animal touches the body with its head and flipper and maintains eye contact with it. Scientists believe this behavior may be a form of grief-related response.
Observation near the Gold Coast
The footage was filmed last year off the coast of Australia. Andrew Malvill of the Sea World Foundation witnessed the observation. According to him, he initially thought he was seeing two whales resting at the surface, but their behavior seemed unusual to him.
Another whale was near the female. Researchers noted that the female may have remained with the dead calf for several hours, and possibly even days. She did not attempt to bring it to the surface. According to the authors of the study, this may indicate that the whale realized the calf had died shortly after giving birth.
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Study findings
Other dead whale calves were also seen in the observation area at the same time. The study’s authors said this was the first detailed documented case of such behavior in humpback whales.
Olaf Meynecke of Griffith University’s Whale and Climate Research Program drew attention to the female’s continuous physical contact with the calf. According to him, the study indicates a strong bond between mother and calf and emotional stages that socially complex mammals may experience after the death of offspring or a companion.
Similar behavior has previously been observed in other marine mammals. In particular, an orca that carried the body of a dead calf for more than two weeks in 2018 was again spotted last year with the body of a newborn. The study on the humpback whale was published in Discover Animals.
