Rare Humpback Whale Birth Caught on Drone Camera For The First Time Off The Coast of Australia

Humpback whale birth recorded off New South Wales

Drone footage has captured a baby humpback whale’s first moments in the open ocean, in what is thought to be the first recording of its kind.

Exceptionally calm seas and fortunate timing enabled drone pilot and exhibition filmmaker Alexander Forrest to film the birth in remarkable detail. Forrest regularly flies his camera drone to record Australian wildlife. In late July, he was following a pod of migrating humpback whales from the air as it travelled past the north coast of New South Wales.

One adult female caught his attention because she was moving far more slowly than the other whales, appearing almost to drift towards the shore.

"It was just a routine flight… and there was this one whale that wasn't migrating north or south like all the others, but just got this super slow, consistent, almost labored behavior right behind the surf break," Forrest told ScienceAlert.

The pregnant whale drifting alone, moments before birth. (Alexander Forrest/ORRCA (@forresftov))

Trusting his instinct, Forrest trained his camera on the sluggish whale. Without warning, a red plume spread through the water surrounding her.

A small, pale newborn humpback whale then emerged from the blood-coloured cloud and rose to the surface to take its first breath.

Watch the video

"Suddenly this red plume appears, and my first instinct was, maybe an interaction with a predator," Forrest said.

"But fortunately, a white shape shoots up to the surface and it's a little humpback whale calf."

Forrest then understood that he had seen - and filmed - an extraordinary event. He contacted fellow drone operator Tanya Snowden, a member of ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia), and his friend Dominic Cotter-Dephoff, asking them to help document the newborn whale’s first day.

Observing the newborn humpback whale

For several hours before sunset, the group followed the calf and its mother, gathering as many detailed visual and behavioural observations as possible.

The mother whale follows behind her adventurous newborn. (Alexander Forrest/ORRCA (@forresftov))

"During that time we made sure to get those crucial field notes of early maternal behavior between new humpback whale mum and her freshly-born calf, and what those first moments look like, to contribute to science," Forrest said.

"Following the birth, the mother was instinctively looking out for her calf. The calf wasn't very direction-focused, hadn't quite figured it all out, swimming up to 3 meters [~10 feet] away from her… but they were keeping pretty close for the most part.

"We can breathe without thinking about it, but whales have to focus on it," Forrest said.

"The calf… was really focused on clearing those lungs and staying afloat for those first moments. It goes to the surface as soon as it leaves the birth canal."

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ORRCA says scientific records contain only three other documented observations of humpback whale births. This seems to be the first occasion on which such a birth has been filmed with aerial drone photography.

The birth took place during the peak whale-watching season along Australia’s east coast. At that time, roughly 50,000 humpback whales migrate from Antarctic feeding grounds to the warmer waters of their tropical breeding grounds.

Related: Incredible Video Shows Sperm Whales Come Together to Birth a Calf

What the footage could reveal

Humpback calves are generally born nearer the equator, though recent research indicates that births occur farther south than had been recognised. Since this mother gave birth before reaching those waters, her calf will continue the migration beside her.

Forrest is now collaborating with ORRCA to prepare the gigabytes of observations for scientific analysis, peer review, and publication. The material could offer fresh insight into whale birth, maternal care, and the vital first moments for a mammal born underwater.

This article was fact-checked by Rebecca Dyer and edited by Fiona MacDonald. Although we take pride in our process, we are only human. If you spot an error, please let us know.