The incredible moment of a humpback whale’s birth was captured on camera for the first time – before the pod began a 5,000-mile journey to their feeding grounds.
The majestic moment, recorded off Lahaina, Hawaii in 2021, was featured in National Geographic’s new series “Incredible Animal Journeys.”
This was the first time scientists witnessed a complete birth of a humpback whale from start to finish.
Footage from National Geography shows the group swimming in sync before zooming in on the mother whale giving birth.
“We’ve been waiting 25 years for this,” Rachel Cartwright, a whale researcher with the Keiki Kohola Project, told National Geographic. “It’s never been seen before.”
The incredible moment a humpback whale gives birth has been captured on camera for the first time – before the group embarks on a 5,000-mile journey to their feeding grounds
The female whales travel to the Hawaiian Islands every year to give birth to their young in “predator-free waters.”
Scientists have only seen glimpses or signs of a female whale in labor – never before the entire birth.
“I’ve gotten a lot of calls from people saying they saw a whale giving birth,” Stephanie Stack, senior research biologist at the Pacific Whale Foundation in Maui, told National Geographic.
“And often it’s not entirely the case if we look into it a little bit. “It’s often just a whale resting or hanging out with its calf,” she added.
“When I looked at the footage I was really surprised. That is amazing!’
The birth began at 3 p.m. when scientists noticed a group of whales gathering near the surface of the water.
A crew member went searching and discovered a small coincidence peeking out of the female.
“At that point we knew we were potentially giving birth,” Cartwright told National Geographic.
“We had people in the water until sunset,” she says. “But the lights were out and we didn’t think we were going to get anything new.”
Cartwright didn’t realize what she had recorded with her drone until she played it back later.
“What we saw on the footage was a large jet of blood coming out,” says Cartwright. “And then, two seconds later, we finally saw a calf.”
At some point, the males began blowing bubbles at the pregnant humpback whale – something that scientists believe could trigger the release of “feel good” hormones such as oxytocin.
“There’s a beautiful sequence where the mother holds her tail up and the little baby’s tail sticks out and the males go underneath and blow bubbles,” Cartwright said.
Viewers were in awe of this incredible moment.
One commented: “So beautiful and so precious to see. “That’s why our oceans need to be clean, not destroyed, and animals deserve to be respected, admired and protected.”
Parks and Wildlife Service WA (DBCA) received calls of a whale in distress at the same location
A pod of dolphins have returned a humpback whale and its calf to their migratory route near the coast of Western Australia
Another said: “Wow, what a beautiful video.” You are so intelligent. Very moved by the male humpback whale blowing bubbles to form a screen giving the female humpback whale some privacy. Thank you, National Geographic team!’
“What an incredible photographer.” I’ve never seen that before. “As always, Nat Geo is #1,” commented a third.
Earlier this month, a pod of dolphins guided a humpback whale and its calf back to their migration route in an extraordinary moment caught on camera.
The heartwarming interaction between the two species occurred on October 18 near Bunbury Back Beach in Western Australia.
The Dolphin Discovery Center Bunbury used a drone to record the rare encounter.
It shows a humpback whale, initially mistaken for an orca due to its dramatic black and white markings, while its calf swims alone in the sea.
The couple had strayed from their trail, but a pod of dolphins arrived and guided them back onto the route.